Chasing The Sun
by ThePlaceboEffects
Summary: Emma Swan is a tattoo artist in River City, and she looks forward to visits from Regina Mills, a woman with an ever-growing scoreboard spanning down her back. Client & artist, that's how their relationship was; friendly, professional, distant, until Regina's life literally comes crashing through the window one night, and Emma is pulled into a world of magic, madness, & the undead.
1. The Wolves Roam At Night

**A/N** : This is going to be the longest author's note of the series, but I'll try to be brief! So I wrote this in about… nine days? I've always wanted to write a vampire AU, and I had vague ideas, but nothing concrete enough to develop. I came across a writing prompt somewhere (can't remember where now, I'm sorry!) that was "What are you counting?" "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." and it sort of spiraled from there. I borrowed some vampire lore from the Vampire Academy series, some from The Vampire Diaries TV show, and some I just made up myself! So yeah, I decided a tattoo artist/Vampire AU had to exist and… here we are.

Thanks to my best friend Domi (GlasssMenagerie) for being my beta and for confirming that this _wasn't_ a giant mess! The story has already been written and updates will happen once a week for 5 more weeks :)

* * *

The bell over the door rang just as Emma was cleaning up for the day. "Sorry, we're closed for the night," the blonde said, not looking up.

"You don't have time to squeeze me in?"

Emma recognized the voice immediately. "For you? Of course. How many?"

"Three." Regina hopped up on the table and lay on her front.

The last tattoo Emma had done had _just_ healed, and Regina was back.

One, two, three, Emma dutifully added tally marks.

"What are you counting?" She finally decided to ask, after months of adding to the brunette's back tattoo.

Regina turned her head to face the tattoo artist. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

That was how it had been. Every month or so, Regina would come into the Ever After tattoo parlor, wearing a backless shirt or dress, asking for one, two, three more tallies to be added to the ever growing scoreboard that went from the base of her neck, down her back, and this was the first day Emma decided to ask about the tallies. The women got to know each other over the months, well, as well as you could while one was keeping a massive secret, until today, the day Emma squeezed Regina in at the end of a long day, and her secret came crashing through the front window in the form of a pale, red-eyed monster.

Regina sprung up from the table with ninja-like reflexes, whipping a wooden stake out from her knee-high boot and launching it with more force than Emma thought a human was capable of. The stake landed firmly in the center of the monster's chest, and they fell to the ground, their pale white skin turning a sickly gray.

Across the tattoo shop, Emma screamed, and Regina whipped around to see another monster holding Emma in his grip, his back turned. Like lighting, Regina got another stake and plunged it through his back before he knew what hit him, and he fell to the ground with a deafening thud. The brunette took a vial of some purple liquid from her pocket and poured it onto the corpses, dissolving it into a pile of dust before Emma's eyes. Regina made eye contact with Emma who'd hardly had time to put down her tattoo gun before everything had gone down. She hopped back up on the table as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. "Make it two more."

Emma was shellshocked. "Do you want to tell me what just happened?" She hadn't moved yet, rubbing the area on her neck that the monster had held in a vice grip only seconds before.

Regina looked at Emma. "If I said 'if I told you, I'd have to kill you,' you'd think I was full of it. But believe me when I say, you don't want to know."

Emma took a step forward. "Okay, well I'll tell you what _I_ saw, and you can choose to confirm what I'm saying, or say nothing at all. You're counting monsters. Monsters are real. You're someone who kills monsters as a... hobby? Am I on the right track?"

The brunette looked at Emma with a smile that was somehow a mix of condescension and relief. "Sure." She turned back over, "Would you mind adding those last two? I'm sure we'd both like to get out of here."

On autopilot, Emma dipped the needle back into the tattoo ink she'd been using before, and added two more tallies to Regina's back, bringing the total to thirty-seven. "Thirty-seven monsters, you're kind of a badass, huh?"

Regina laughed quietly, "I wouldn't put it quite like that."

Even though Emma was still scared shitless, she was still somewhat relieved that she was the only one left in the shop that night. If Zelena, Lacey, Robin, or Neal were around, they probably wouldn't have let what they had just seen go so easily. In fact, they probably would have called the police.

If Emma had an ounce of sense, she probably _should_ have called the police, but something about Regina's ease in dealing with the intruders put her mind at rest. Neither of them spoke for the rest of the session, both locked up in their own little worlds.

When Emma was done, the brunette sat up, examining the new marks with the help of two mirrors. "Perfect, as always. Twenty dollars a mark still?"

Emma wouldn't usually undersell her work like that, but Regina had become a regular, and with that and their growing friendship, Emma cut the woman a deal.

"Tonight, it's on the house. You kind of saved my life."

 _I endangered your life_ Regina thought to herself. "It's really not a problem." Emma covered the fresh tattoo with a clear bandage. "Thanks again Emma." The brunette left the shop with a wave, and Emma closed the door behind her, before realizing how ridiculous that was now that the window was shattered.

"Regina, wait!" Emma called into the night. She turned around, raising her eyebrow expectantly. "What do I do about the window? I can't exactly give the security tape to the insurance company... I assume what you do is a secret?"

"Fuck." She heard the woman curse under her breath. She walked back, stepping through the broken window instead of the perfectly functioning door. "Give me the tape, I'll deal with it."

"You'll deal with it? This window costs at least a couple thousand dollars!" Emma stepped through the window after Regina and ran after her as she went to the back.

"Don't worry about it," Regina answered, putting the security tape in her bag. She took a hand and put it on Emma's shoulder, forcing the blonde to look at her. "Go home, go to sleep, and everything will be fine tomorrow, I promise."

"Okay."

Regina seemed surprised at how quickly the blonde relented, but she quickly schooled her expression, stepping back. "Great. I'll see you around." Regina hopped through the window again. "Lock up anything valuable as best you can! There still _is_ a gaping hole in the building and this _is_ River City.

The brunette walked off again, leaving Emma with an awful lot of glass to sweep up. She made quick work of cleaning up as best she could, before packing up all the equipment in the shop and locking it in the same safe they kept their cash.

Dutifully, Emma turned on the alarm before walking out the door and locking it behind her, giving one last wary glance to the shattered window before going home.

"God I'm starving," she muttered.

The hair on Emma's arms stood up as she passed the alley by the shop. She felt like she was being watched, but she chalked that up to nerves and paranoia; she'd just found out that monsters were real, she was allowed to be a little bit terrified.

::::

Emma showed up at Ever After the next morning, having come up with a somewhat convoluted excuse as to why the window was broken and the security tape was missing. At first, she played with the idea of playing dumb like it happened after she left, but she quickly realized she'd stupidly put her faith in Regina's ability to fix the problem overnight, and had swept up the glass before she left.

She was going over the story again and again in her head as she walked to work, but when she rounded the last corner, she realized she wouldn't need it; the window looked perfect, as if there was never any incident. She let out a small sigh of relief as she walked through the door.

"Morning Neal," the blonde said.

"Morning Swan," the man answered. "Could you explain to me why all our equipment was locked in the safe and the drapes weren't pulled?"

"Oh, um..." Emma hadn't thought this through; she had a completely different story prepared. "A weird guy came in just as I was closing up, it got be a bit frazzled. Sorry, won't happen again."

"It better not," the man said as he was readying his station for the day. "We're in River City; an open window is an open invitation."

"Right. Sorry." Emma looked around the shop, trying to find any evidence of the past night's tiff. "Is it a little chilly in here?"

"No... you alright Emma?" Neal gave the blonde a curious look before standing up. "You look a little pasty." He crossed the floor and put a hand on Emma's forehead. "You feel kinda cold..."

Emma shrugged the man off. "Nah, I'm fine. I just didn't sleep super well last night."

"Okay..." he dropped it, and got back to preparing his station.

Emma tried her best to shake off the nagging feeling that something was wrong, and started going through her morning routine. _Get a set of new needles, line up the ink_ she thought she'd need for the day, before heading to the back and seeing what Neal had brought in for breakfast.

She eyed the breakfast sandwich and coffee appreciatively, before plopping down on one of the overstuffed sofas and devouring the sandwich and coffee at a most un-ladylike speed. She still felt thirsty, so she took one of the reusable water bottles she left at the shop and filled it at the water cooler, before stepping back out onto the floor as she guzzled the bottle.

"Jeez, Em slow down!" Neal said as he saw the blonde downing the water. "What are you, a camel?"

Emma finished the bottle before she addressed her co-worker. "My throat's just super dry, I feel like I haven't drank water in decades."

Neal looked at Emma like he didn't believe a word she was saying. "Are you _sure_ you're okay? You can't be working if–" Emma put up a hand, cutting him off.

"I _know_ I can't work if I'm sick. And I'm not. I'm just _thirsty_ , lay off."

Neal put his hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright."

Zelena and Lacey strolled in five minutes before opening, as usual.

"Morning you two," Emma and Neal said in unison.

"Good morning rabble," Zelena sing-songed back at them in her British accent.

"Morning Emma, hey Neal," Lacey waved at the two in turn. "Sorry we're late."

"We're not late," Zelena said quickly, as she did almost every morning. "The shop opens in five; we're early."

Emma rolled her eyes as Zelena started their morning ritual of racing around the shop in order to set up in five minutes while Lacey took her sweet time.

Just as the clock struck ten, Zelena slid to a stop in front of her station, sitting down on her stool with a bottle of ink in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other, and a breakfast sandwich clenched between her teeth. Emma would pay good money to be around the day Zelena mistakenly drank from her ink bottle; it'd happen one day.

Lacey sauntered over in her five-inch heels at five-past-ten, never particularly fussed about being ready on time. If she wasn't such a good artist, she would've been fired months ago. But that would've also meant Robin would have had to be at work before ten, which he never was. He owned the shop, so he could set his own hours, much to everyone else's chagrin.

The Brit never came in before noon, and he always left around six. If he weren't so nice, Emma would hate his guts. He took a chance on her and offered her an apprenticeship when no one else in town would. She had just got out of a stint in prison after a break-and-enter gone sideways, and no one else would give an ex-con a chance, save for Robin Lockwood.

Emma's first appointment wasn't until the afternoon, so she spent her morning sauntering around the shop, trying to calm her restlessness, while drinking gallons and gallons of water to no avail.

"I'm taking a lunch break!" Emma said to no one in particular as she exited the shop, taking another full bottle of water with her. The blonde hardly left during the day, but she could tell she was driving everyone crazy with her constant pacing. The sun was unusually warm for a fall day in River City, and Emma squinted her eyes as the sun continued to shine in her eyes. She walked around the block, stopping at an In-N-Out and ordering two double-doubles with fries and a large coke.

 _There goes me trying to be a vegetarian,_ Emma thought to herself as she took a bite of the first burger. Her hunger was still insatiable, but she tried to eat slowly for the sake of the others in the restaurant. She tried to distract herself from her hunger by scrolling through her phone.

' _Two found dead in River City alleyway'_ a headline flashed across her twitter feed. Upon closer inspection, it was the same alley that Emma had a weird feeling about when she passed the night before. _That could've been me_ she thought to herself.

She moved onto the second burger, feeling no more satisfied than when she sat down. Emma took a sip of her coke before hissing in pain, putting the cup down. On top of her uncontrollable hunger, her jaw started aching. "Fuck, I probably have a cavity." Emma felt around her mouth with her tongue, but didn't feel anything out the ordinary. "No more sugar for me," she said, rolling her eyes.

Emma finished her burger and downed the rest of her water, eyeing the large coke longingly. She took one more ill-advised sip and suffered the consequences by way of another shooting pain starting from her jaw and taking residence right behind her eyes.

She took the rest of her lunch break before she had to be back at Ever After walking around the neighborhood. When she got back to the shop, her client was already waiting for her. "You look a little flushed there Emma," Lacey said, looking up from the feather that she was tattooing on someone's collar bone. "Go for a run?"

Emma looked at the brunette quizzically. "No?"

Zelena got up from where she was sitting behind the reception desk and stepped into Emma's personal space, taking the blonde's face in her hand. "God, you burn worse than I do; you've got a sunburn!"

"What?" Emma reached over the front desk and picked up the mirror that Zelena always had on it, "well fuck." Emma's cheeks were red with an obvious sunburn, and although it was warm out, it wasn't _that_ hot.

"I forgot sunscreen," Emma said by way of an answer.

"Are you alright Emma?" Robin had been watching the exchange from where he drew up his designs, "You seem a bit off."

The anger that had been simmering under Emma's skin all day boiled over. "I'm _fine_ , can everyone stop asking me? Get off my back, jeez." She turned her attention to the girl who was waiting for her. "Give me five minutes and I'll be ready for you!"

The girl, Ruby, gave Emma a tight-lipped smile before Emma walked off to the back to wash her hands and get her station ready. Emma had drawn up Ruby's design request the day before during some off-time, and she couldn't wait to show the redhead what she came up with. She had wanted a design that incorporated a wolf and the moon, and Emma had come up with this design in which one of the wolf's eyes was a full moon, and in the shadows of the forest there was another wolf howling.

When she left the back, the girl was sitting exactly where she left her, swinging her feet absentmindedly. "Ready?"

"Yeah!" She got up and made her way to Emma's station, sitting on the bench. "What'd you come up with?"

She held up her creation proudly, watching the girl's eyes widen almost comically. "Oh my God that's _amazing_!" Emma grinned, never tiring of hearing people praise her work.

"Anything you want changed? Is the size okay?" Emma asked.

"Nope, it's perfect!" Ruby looked at the picture. "It'll still fit on my right shoulder, right?" Emma nodded. "Great!"

She lay down on her stomach, much like Regina usually would, and put her hands under her head.

"Would you like a pillow?"

"Nah, I'm okay."

Emma got the black and white ink ready, before she sat down and applied the stencil to Ruby's back. She gave the girl a mirror and held one up herself. "Placement okay?"

Ruby got up and angled the mirror this way and that until she got a clear look at where her tattoo would be. "Yep, that's exactly where I want it!" She handed the mirror back to Emma before she returned to her lying down position.

Emma got to work doing the outline. "Is there a meaning behind the wolf?"

"Yeah. My Granny hated that she lived in River City, but when my mom left me in her arms to take care of me, she did everything she could to keep me safe. I always used to roll my eyes when she told me 'the wolves roam at night,' and not to be out after dark..." the girl sighed, "but she was right. Sorry..." Ruby apologized as she shifted, reaching for a tissue to wipe her eyes. "My Granny was murdered a few weeks ago... they still don't know who did it. But it was because I forgot to get something from the grocery store. We had a fight, and I told her if it was so damn important she should get it herself... she stormed out and I never saw her again."

Ruby took a shuddering breath. "She's dead because of me. And I wanted to get this tattoo to remind myself of her... and to remind myself that the wolves really do roam at night."

Emma was shocked. "Wow, I'm so sorry. You have to know it's not your fault though. It's the fault of whatever monster did that to her."

"I want to believe that, I really do." The redhead lied back down and closed her eyes. "I miss her so much."

Her closed eyes told Emma she wasn't interested in talking anymore, so she got back to tattooing the design onto Ruby's skin. When pinpricks of blood started springing up on her back, Emma felt dizzy. She put her tattoo gun down before putting her hands over her eyes and breathing deeply.

"Everything okay?" Ruby asked, opening one eye.

"Yeah, just need to grab some water." Emma got up from her station and nearly tripped over her own feet as she made a break for the back room.

"Get a grip Swan," Emma muttered to herself as she breathed in through her nose, out through her mouth, in an attempt to stop her head from spinning.

She drank more water in an attempt to quell the burning dryness in the back of her throat, but again, to no avail. Her heart was beating like a hummingbird's in her chest, which wasn't helping her overall queasiness.

"This is what you get for eating meat again," Emma rationalized. She went back out with a smile plastered on her face, and got back to tattooing the redhead.

"Everything okay?" Ruby asked when Emma sat down.

"Yup."

They fell back into silence; Ruby's eyes closed like she was taking a nap, and Emma focusing on the tattoo she was doing and nothing else. Not the hunger, not the thirst, not the dizziness, just the tattoo.

It was a few hours until Emma was done the last bit of shading on the wolf. "Done." She put her tattoo needle down triumphantly, happy she managed to get through the entire piece without throwing up or passing out.

Ruby got up, stretching the limbs that had been still for the last couple of hours, and took the mirror that Emma was handing to her.

Once again, Emma stood behind her, angling a mirror that she was holding until Ruby got the right angle and was able to see the finished piece. "Oh my god thank you Emma, you've outdone yourself!" The redhead sprang up and threw her arms around Emma, who cautiously returned the gesture.

"Would you mind if I took a picture for my portfolio?"

"Not at all!" Ruby turned back around and brushed her hair over her shoulder. Emma cleaned up the last bits of blood that had came through before she brought out her SLR and snapped a few photos.

"All done. Zelena will settle you up at the front. Thanks for coming!" Emma extended a hand which Ruby shook enthusiastically. "If I get another tattoo, I'm coming back and asking for you specifically!"

"That's very kind," Emma said, smiling at the bubbly girl.

Ruby walked away and started talking to Zelena while Emma got to tidying up. Ruby was her only booked client for the day, but there were always walk-ins, so she made sure her station was clean and ready, should someone stop by.

"Hey, Emma?" Robin approached the blonde as she was doing her final wipe-down. "A word?"

"What's up?" Emma asked, throwing the alcohol-soaked cloth into the laundry bin.

"Um..." the man rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Spit it out Robin, what's going on?" Emma had been on edge all day, and the usually straightforward man tiptoeing around her was probably more irritating than it should be.

"I think you should take the rest of the day off." He said, the words tumbling out of his mouth. "You really don't seem well."

Emma rolled her eyes before picking up her bag from behind her station. "Fine. See you tomorrow."

Emma walked out of the store with her head held high, before shielding her face from the early-evening sun and walking home.

::::

It was a week before Regina came back, and Emma had been getting worse and worse as the days went on.

"Are you sure you're good to close up Emma?" Neal asked, one hand on the door.

"For sure, no worries. See you tomorrow!"

"If you say so. I live nearby so call me if you need anything!" He said, before taking his leave and leaving Emma alone in the shop.

Everyone had been 'careful' around her the last week, and it was making Emma more and more angry. _Sure_ she wasn't feeling great, and _sure_ she looked like death, but that didn't mean everyone needed to make a big thing about it.

She heard the bell ding over the door a moment later, and assumed it was Neal coming back for something he forgot. When she looked up, however, she was greeted with warm brown eyes and a smile she found herself missing on the days she didn't see it.

"Regina."

"Hey. Have time for an addition?"

Emma snapped out of the reverie that she was put into every time she set eyes on the brunette. "Regina, we need to talk."

"Ooh, serious," she snarked as Emma took her by the hand and pulled her into the back room.

"I think I'm dying." Emma said, dropping the brunette's hand.

"Whoa," Regina took a step forward. "What do you mean? Have you seen a doctor?"

"No, I haven't seen a doctor, because they'd probably think I was insane!" Emma's eyes were darting frantically. "I can't sleep, I'm hungry _all_ the time, but no matter how much I eat I'm never full!"

Regina eyed the blonde. "Maybe you should consider a more nutritious diet..."

"It's not only that!" Emma continued, as if she hadn't heard what Regina said at all. "My throat is dry like I've never had a drink of water in my life, my jaw aches constantly but I don't have any cavities, and no matter how much sunscreen I slather on, I keep getting sunburned! It's not even that sunny! The sight of blood makes me woozy and I can't focus on anything anymore except how goddamn _thirsty_ I am... I think one of those monsters gave me something, I don't know… I don't know what to do."

Regina had been taking in everything Emma was saying, and at the mention of blood, she perked up and sprung into action. Regina took the blonde's chin between her thumb and forefingers, turning her head this way and that. She stepped back sighing, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You're in transition," she said, before drawing a strange looking gun and pointing it at the blonde's chest.


	2. The Thought of Carrying Coffins

**A/N:** Happy Sunday everyone! We're picking up right where the last chapter left off; hope you enjoy the next installment of 'Chasing the Sun' :)

The chapter title comes from the song 'Coffins' by MisterWives.

Full chapter title: How Do You Soften The Thought of Carrying Coffins?

* * *

"Whoa whoa whoa Regina _wait!"_ Emma put her hands up in surrender. "You're just going to kill me?!"

"I have to. Before you kill anyone."

"I won't kill anyone, I promise!"

"You can't make that promise."

"I haven't killed anyone _yet!_ I've been feeling like shit for over a week! I think I can handle it."

Regina lowered her gun a fraction of an inch. She was right. She should be bloodthirsty and uncontrollable, yet here she was, a little frantic, but otherwise unchanged.

"Can you explain what's happening and maybe _get that gun out of my face?!_ " Emma took a deep breath. "Sorry. I'm a little irritable."

"Well yeah, you're starving." Regina lowered the gun, and Emma followed suit by lowering her hands.

"Tell me something I don't know. How do I fix it?"

Regina looked at Emma right in the eye. "You feed."

"I've been trying! I've eaten everything in sight, I–" Regina cut her off with her hand.

"You feed... on human blood."

Emma got impossibly paler. "I what?" she squeaked.

"Have you ever heard of vampires?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "Of course I have; I'm a human being in the year twenty-seventeen, obviously I've heard of vampires." Regina gave her a pointed glare. "No."

"Yes."

"So... you're a vampire hunter? And... I'm a vampire. I don't even have fangs, what kind of shitty vampire is that?"

"You're not a vampire _yet_. You're in transition. You become a vampire when you feed on human blood."

"Okay, so I won't drink human blood then. It's fine, I'll just start sucking on a lot of Halls."

Regina shook her head, smiling despite the situation. "That's not how it works. If you don't feed, you die."

"But if I turn... I'll die anyways, you'll kill me."

She looked at the blonde. "I don't want to kill you. And maybe I don't have to." She sighed. "Do my tattoos, then we'll finish this conversation."

Emma nodded. "Okay." Dutifully, the blonde took out her tattoo needle and black ink, and Regina took her usual place on Emma's bench. _She still trusts me_ Emma thought to herself. "How many?"

"Just one," Regina said without moving. "It's been a slow week."

Emma, used to doing these tallies on Regina, no longer needed a stencil, and went in freehand. As soon as her needle broke olive skin, Emma knew she was in trouble. If the smell of blood had distracted her before, the smell of Regina's was intoxicating. It was possible it was just because of how forbidden her blood was, or perhaps it was just Regina. Her jaw ached more than it had before, and Emma found herself having to hold her breath to get through the tattoo.

"All done," Emma rasped out. She wiped the few red spots that had sprung to the surface of Regina's skin, and she literally _felt_ her pupils grow in size.

Regina got up and took the mirror that Emma was offering to her. "Perfect, as always." Regina handed Emma thirty dollars and the blonde pocketed it. "Now, what are we going to do with you?"

Emma shrugged sheepishly.

"I got you into this mess, so I'm going to help you. Even though it goes against _everything_ I've been taught."

"Thank–"

"I'm not done. I'm going to help you, but if you give me any reason to believe that you're beyond saving, I won't hesitate in killing you, understand?"

Emma nodded.

"First things first, we need to get you out of transition."

"And how do I do that? I can't just walk into the Red Cross and ask for a donation... can I use my own?"

Regina shook her head. "You've already started the transition, you're not considered human anymore. It wouldn't work." The brunette thought hard for a moment. "Fucking hell what am I about to do..."

"Hmm?"

Regina took the needle Emma had just used on her tattoo and pricked the tip of her finger. Emma's eyes zeroed in on the blood slowly pooling on Regina's finger, a savage desire flaring in her belly.

"What are you doing?"

"Something I shouldn't. Now, take it before I change my mind."

Emma eyed the pin-pricks amount of blood being extended to her, and instinct took over. Against her better judgment, and the voices screaming in her head that she couldn't come back from this, she took the brunette's finger and licked it clean. It was as if her thirst was both sated, and increased tenfold. She felt fangs sprout from her gums, extending painfully, followed by her heart taking one last beat before going still.

"Mhmm, thanks, all better that was more than enough, mmmmm!" Emma squeaked.

Regina eyed the blonde, her fangs extending over her lower lip. "We both know that's not true."

"What do you _want_ me to say Regina?"

"Be honest with me. That's the only way I can help you."

"Fine. I can literally _see_ the blood pulsing under your skin, and I want nothing more than to sink my teeth into your neck like some damn cliché because I've never been so hungry in my _life_!"

"Alright."

"Alright?!"

"You've had a week to go to the police with my little secret, and you didn't."

"How do you trust that I'll stop?"

Regina brushed her hair over her shoulder. "I know you." She looked at Emma with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "Besides, you'd miss me too much."

"Cocky." Emma smiled at the brunette. "So... do I just go for it?"

Regina shrugged. "I guess so. I'm kind of new to this too."

Emma took a seat cross-legged behind Regina on the tattoo bench, running her hands along the spot where her neck met her shoulder. Of all the times she imagined being this close to Regina, being about to _literally_ snack on her wasn't anywhere on her list.

"Sorry if this hurts," Emma choked out before instinct took over.

She struck like a cobra, biting into the brunette's neck, and Regina gasped before a moan somewhere between pleasure and pain escaped her lips. She arched into the blonde's mouth as if electrified.

Regina's blood tasted like flowers and cocaine, and Emma couldn't get enough. For the first time in a week she felt alive, which was ironic considering the circumstances. The blood flowed into her mouth, and she drank hungrily, her grip on the brunette tightening as she fed.

"Um... Emma?" Regina tried, but Emma was lost in her own little world. "Emma?" Nothing. "Emma, you're going to kill me!"

Regina's frantic tone snapped Emma out of her daze, and she jumped back (much farther than she was expecting) until her back was against the far wall.

"Shit, fuck, I'm so sorry." Emma let out a shuddered breath.

"It's fine. To your credit, I thought I'd have to get you off of me myself." The brunette dabbed at the wound on her shoulder. "Wow."

"What?"

Regina shook her head. "Nothing it's just... that eye color looks really pretty on you."

"What, green?"

"No." Regina held up a little pocket mirror that she carried in her purse, and Emma caught sight of herself. She still looked paler than usual, but she didn't look like she was on death's door anymore. That, and her eyes were now the color of molten gold.

"Wow that's uh... going to take some getting used to."

Regina chuckled. "Getting used to your _eye color_ is seriously the last of your worries. Now, we need to seriously talk."

"Am I going to start sparkling?" Emma asked, still not moving from her spot in the far corner.

"Absolutely not and I'm offended you'd ask such a thing. Those so-called vampires wouldn't be worth my time. They're closer to anemic emo teens who just found out what body glitter was than actual creatures of the night." She adjusted her shirt. "And before you ask, you can't survive on animal blood, so jot that down."

"Should I be taking notes?"

"It's a figure of speech." Regina regarded the blonde. "You can come closer you know, I won't bite," she smirked.

"Yeah, but I might," Emma mumbled as she made her way across the room and took the seat in front of Regina.

"Alright, so I'm about to throw a lot of information at you, speak up if you have any questions, okay?"

Emma nodded, listening intently.

"Basically there are two types of vampires. Genitus Salus and Effectus Pravus, Sals and Pravs for short. It basically means born good and made evil, in layman's terms. Generally speaking, The Sals are born, live, and die, just as humans, save for the fact that they're a little stronger, sensitive to sunlight, and of course, need blood to survive, although an iron-rich diet can decrease the need for feeding. And then there's the Pravs, humans or Sals that were turned. They're immortal, _need_ blood to survive, burn up in the sunlight, and lack morality and humanity. Pravs are the things you think of when you think of vampires, evil bloodsuckers that only come out at night and can only be killed by a wooden stake."

Emma considered this for a moment. "But… I wasn't born a vampire. Does that mean I'm going to be evil?"

Regina considered this before shrugging. "For all intents and purposes, you should be. But the fact that you're even concerned about it means that you're not. I've never seen that before to be honest. You should be a compassionless, emotionless killer. You also should have gotten more than a sunburn from being out in the sun the past week, but that's pretty low on the list of concerns."

"Is there a cure?"

Regina looked at the blonde, and wanted so much to tell her that there was hope, but she couldn't lie to her. "No. The only time a vampire has ever been turned back to human was with the help of a Eupetic user, and the last one died nearly thirty years ago."

"I'm sorry, a what?"

"A Eupetic. Someone who specialized in light magic. Magic is inherently dark, but there was a league of women, they were called the Daylight Daughters, who were born to light magic."

"Hold on, hold on, hold on. So you're telling me that along with vampires being real, _magic_ is real too? How don't more people know about it?!"

"It's easy to hide magic in the mundane." Regina said with a shrug. "People are always willing to dismiss things as tricks of the light or imagination instead of facing the idea that the world is bigger than they think."

"Okay," Emma started counting things on her fingers. "So magic is real. Vampires are real. Is there anything else I don't know?"

Regina smirked. "We'd be here all day."

"Rude. But really, is there anything else I need to know?"

Regina raised an eyebrow, that damn smirk still on her face. "Watch out for hunters. You'll find we all have hash marks down our backs."

"There are more than just you?"

"Of course," Regina laughed like that was the silliest question in the world. "My people are born to serve and protect, as it were."

"What do you mean by _your people_?" Emma asked, eyeing the brunette. "You're human, right?"

"Mostly. We have a bit of Genitus Salus in us. My mother is a hunter, like me, and she's half Sal, and my father is human."

"So... you're a quarter vampire, that's what you're telling me."

Regina sighed. "If you want to put it like that, I guess. We're called ammixtuses. All it really means is that I'm a little bit faster, a little bit stronger, and a little more resilient than your average human. That's what makes us perfect for what we do."

"So... your people, you're all hunters?"

"Most of us. Some of us are keepers. They protect the Royal Sals from getting attacked by Pravs. We all go to the same schools and get trained in the same ways, but keepers experience much less hand to hand combat, and they tend to fall out of practice as the years go on. Then they're switched out for a new, younger, faster keeper."

Emma shifted closer to the brunette. "So, what happens when hunters get older and slow down?"

Regina smiled. "We die."

"Right... so... your mother approves of what you do then?"

"Of course. There was no other choice, I was born to be a hunter. My father worries but... he supports me. Your parents approve of you becoming a tattoo artist?"

Emma just shrugged, an air of sadness falling over her. "I wouldn't know. I never knew my father, and my mother died in childbirth."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's not your fault." They sat in awkward silence, before Emma spoke up again. "So... what now?"

Regina stood up from the bench and put a band-aid on the puncture wounds on her neck. " _Now,_ we exchange phone numbers and addresses. If you need anything, you'll know where to find me. I've got connections at the Red Cross, so I'll finagle some blood bags from them tomorrow and bring them to you."

Emma took one of her business cards and scribbled her home address at the back, handing it to Regina. "How do I know you're not going to break into my house and kill me in my sleep?"

"You don't." Regina said as she wrote her own address and phone number on a loose receipt she had in her bag. "But _I_ don't know that you're not going to do the same to me, so we're even." The brunette handed Emma her contact details and Emma folded the paper before stuffing it into her jeans pocket.

"See you tomorrow. Take the day off if you can, you need it."

Without thinking, Emma threw her arms around Regina. The hunter tensed, before giving into the hug. "Thank you. For everything."

"Don't mention it," the brunette patted Emma on the back. "You've got to ease up though, you're going to break my ribs."

"Sorry!" Emma let her go immediately.

"And put those fangs away, you're going to scare people."

"What? How?!"

"Figure it out!" Regina yelled over her shoulder as she left the tattoo shop.

The bell dinged over the door, and Regina was gone. Emma ran her tongue over her new set of teeth, and was surprised at the sharpness of her fangs. She picked up one of the mirrors she kept at her station and examined them closer. Regina was right; they were terrifying. Emma closed her eyes and focused all of her energy into drawing her fangs back into her gums, and to her surprise, she felt them recede. When she opened her eyes, her canine teeth looked human-like again; the only indicator that something was different were her golden eyes.

Emma got to work finishing tidying up the tattoo shop, leaving a note that said _taking a day off!_ on the front desk; Robin wouldn't mind, it was her first vacation day that year, and she had no scheduled clients the following day. If they _really_ needed her, they'd call.

She made sure the door was locked and the alarm was on before she left. When she passed the alley by the store, she had the strange feeling again of being watched. She stopped in front of the alley, fixing her gaze into the darkness. There was no movement, no sound, no eyes staring back at her. Emma shrugged, and continued her walk home.

::::

It turned out, taking the day off did more harm than good. She was feeling the best she'd felt in days, and she didn't have her co-workers to distract her, so she spent the day pacing her apartment. The fact that she no longer felt the need to sleep meant she had countless more hours each day.

"I need a hobby," she said to her empty apartment as she paced it for the forty-fifth time that day, _The Price Is Right_ blaring in the background."

The sun started to set, and there was still no word from Regina. Emma wasn't worried per se, she was just anxious, antsy, and getting hungry. The food in her fridge was doing absolutely nothing for her, which only added to her irritation.

When the clock struck nine and she still hadn't heard from Regina, Emma decided a walk would probably help to clear her head.

That, she would soon find out, was a mistake.

::::

The cool River City air instantly made Emma feel calmer. She had pulled on the same jeans she had worn the day before setting out. She quickly leaned dusk and dawn were the least irritating times to be out in the sun, but she still wore a long-sleeved sweater to protect her skin as much as possible. Emma checked her phone every few minutes, obsessively now, seeing if Regina was trying to reach her.

 _I hope she's okay_ Emma thought to herself. Just as she was going to give in and call the brunette, she decided against it, not wanting to look like she couldn't handle herself.

Emma walked past a girl, the only other soul on the darkened street. Emma could hear her pulse thrumming under her skin, and her jaw ached. ' _Behave'_ her consciousness chided.

She smiled at the girl. The girl smiled back, an innocent, angelic thing, before tripping. She skinned her knee on the pavement. "Are you okay?" Emma ran over with superhuman speed, and if the girl had been paying attention, she'd realize.

"Oh I'm alright, I just need to watch where I'm going."

Emma's eyes zeroed in on the blood dripping from the girl's knee, and her pupils dilated.

"Yeah, I'm okay…" the girl said again when Emma's grip on her knee didn't let up.

"I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry," Emma apologized, before her fangs extended of their own volition, and her mouth was on the girl's neck. A piercing scream rang out through the night before the calming effect took place, and she was quiet.

 _Stop!_ her inner voice yelled. _You've had enough!_

"Please," the girl croaked out, but Emma chose not to hear her.

Emma was driven by selfish hunger, and no matter how much her inner voice screamed at her, thrashing around in her mind, she couldn't stop. In that moment, she couldn't give a damn if the girl lived or died, as long as she got her fill. She heard the girl's heartbeat get stronger the more blood she lost, until it faded, slowly, then stopped completely.

Emma held the now dead girl in her hands, her body growing colder by the moment. The change in the girl's body temperature alerted her to the fact that something was very, _very_ wrong. "No. No, no _no_!" Emma shook the girl, as if the mere action alone would bring her back to life. "Please, no." The hunger was gone, replaced with soul-gnawing guilt. Emma hugged the girl's body to her chest, sobbing. Not knowing what else to do, she reached into her pocket and looked for Regina's address. She picked the girl up in her arms and broke out into a run, the trees whizzing by her in a blur. She ran until she reached Regina's apartment, and chose to jump the fire escape instead of risk being seen carrying a dead girl in the halls.

She knocked on the window, and Regina, to her credit, didn't jump. "Emma?" she asked, opening the window to let the blonde in.

Emma hopped into the living room before throwing the dead girl unceremoniously on the ground. "What do I do?"

"Um…" the brunette stuttered, her eyes jumping between Emma's frantic face and the dead girl on her living room floor. "It's okay, we'll just–"

"I drained her like a juice box Regina, she's _dead_! What do you mean it's _okay_?!"

"Well it's really _not_ okay Emma! When I said 'don't give me any reason to believe that you're beyond saving,' this is what I was talking about!" The brunette snapped. "Your humanity is already fading. You _let_ this happen, what were you doing outside? I thought I told you to take the day off!"

"I did!" Emma was yelling now too. "I spent the whole damn day at home waiting for you like a fucking puppy and when I didn't hear from you I went for a walk because I was bored out of my fucking mind!" Emma took a few breaths, trying to calm herself down. "Can I change her? Can I make her like me?"

"Absolutely not!" Regina crossed her arms. "She's already dead, for one thing, and another, you can't just go around changing people! Just because _you're_ different doesn't mean the vampires you make would be the same. I'm not letting you go around making bloodthirsty little minions just because you feel guilty!"

"Okay, fine. Changing her is out of the question. Can you use that dissolving thing that you used on the vampires in the tattoo shop?"

Regina shook her head. "It only works on vampire corpses... who was she?"

"I don't know, just a girl. Does it really matter?"

Regina looked at the corpse on her living room floor, then back at Emma. "She was innocent."

Emma sputtered. "You don't know that, she could've been a serial killer!"

"No, she wasn't." Regina held a mirror up to Emma. "You've claimed an innocent life."

Emma stared back at her reflection, and where her eyes were once pretty and golden, they were now a crimson red, the picture of evil. She recoiled at the monster she'd become so quickly. "So... what do we do?"

"I can't believe we've gone from casual acquaintances to helping you hide a body in less than two weeks. What _you're_ going to do, is get your fingerprints off her best you can, then you're going to get this _dead body_ out of my apartment! Put her back where you uh... found her."

"In the middle of the street?"

"Jesus Christ, like... a bush or something. Nowhere near here."

Regina threw a washcloth at Emma before she started pacing her living room.

"So um... did you get those blood bags?" Emma asked as she got to scrubbing every piece of exposed skin on the girl that she may have touched.

"They had a _weird_ amount of AB negative considering how rare it is, but no B neg. I thought I'd check Hawthorne Springs tomorrow… if I'd known it would take less than twenty four hours for you to resort to murder, I might have been a bit more frantic in my search."

Emma stopped what she was doing. "What does blood type have to do with _anything_?! _"_

"You should know, AB negative, while the most alluring, will weaken you and make you sick. B negative will keep you the strongest while tasting the best."

"God, Regina I'm really not _picky_! I spent my late teens eating out of a dumpster so I'll take what I can get."

Regina only raised an eyebrow. "Back to scrubbing."

Emma wiped down the girl's neck and shoulders, before throwing down the rag and declaring "I'm done."

"Good." Regina was sitting on the couch, watching some rerun of _Friends_. "Now go put her somewhere near where you found her."

"Can I come back after?"

Regina eyed the blonde warily. "If you'd like. Just don't bring any more dead bodies into my apartment, it really brings the mood down."

Emma rolled her eyes before donning a pair of rubber gloves and picking the girl up like she weighed nothing. She left Regina's apartment the same way she came in, and ran back to the quiet street she had first met the girl on. Emma put the girl behind a group of bushes, out of sight from the main road. "I'm so sorry." She said one more time, before walking off and hoping the girl was found soon.

::::

When Emma returned to Regina's apartment, the brunette hadn't moved from her spot on the couch. She snuck through the window quietly, not trying to startle her.

"You came back."

"Yeah." Emma sat on the opposite end of the couch, trying to keep as much distance from her as possible. The sound of Regina's heartbeat had the opposite effect of everyone else's. While a passerby's heartbeat had literally sent her into a frenzy, Regina's grounded her. But that didn't mean she didn't still want to sink her teeth into her neck again.

"How are you feeling?"

"Physically? Great. Mentally... awful. Life was so much easier before I became this… this _thing_. I was just a woman in a tattoo shop, that was it, that was Emma Swan. Now? I'm Emma Swan, undead creature of the night."

"We all get dealt a shitty hand sometimes," Regina answered, looking at the blonde out of the corner of her eye, "it's how you play that hand that shows who you really are."

"I mean... I'm playing with a rusty fork and a handful of live snakes but..." she shrugged.

Regina chuckled. "Have you always been this dramatic?"

Emma exhaled by way of a laugh, but she didn't actually answer. Instead she said, "What if I can't do it?"

"Do what?"

"This whole... vampire thing. It took me less than a day before I _killed_ someone... what if I can't stop?"

Regina turned to face Emma. "Did you like it?"

Emma considered this. "No. I mean, at the moment I didn't really care if she died or not but after... god, after I wanted nothing more than to die too."

"Then you'll learn to control yourself. Every time you go to feed, you'll remember that feeling. And as long as you _remember_ that feeling, and how shitty you feel, you'll be fine. It's once you lose sight of your humanity completely that we're going to have a problem."

"Why aren't you scared of me?" Emma's voice dropped to a whisper. "I'm scared of me."

"Because you're stronger than you give yourself credit for Emma. You've had several opportunities to try and kill me, but you haven't. Come here," Regina opened her arms to the blonde, and she looked at Regina, worrying her lower lip, before she shrugged and accepted the embrace. She sat with her head in Regina's lap while the brunette ran her hands lazily through her hair.

That's how they sat. Regina watching _Friends_ , Emma actually feeling somewhat relaxed, the sound of Regina's heart, so strong and true, drowning out all the thoughts that were spinning around her head.

"If my superiors could see me now, they'd reassign me so far from here it's not even funny," Regina mused, more to herself than anything.

When the episode ended, a news alert broke them out of their calm state.

 _Breaking news, a girl identified as thirty-one-year-old Lilith Page has been found dead on the streets of River City. It appears that she's the latest victim of the series of animal attacks that have been plaguing our streets._

 _As always, please try not to walk alone late at night, as these animals are still at large. This has been Ashley Boyd with Channel Eight news, more at eleven._

Emma was decidedly not relaxed anymore, the consequences of her actions now plastered across the news; the girl's smiling face staring back at her like a curse. She had a name now, and that made her feel worse. She wasn't just a nameless girl. Lilith Page. She had a name, a family, hopes and dreams, and now she was dead... because of her.

Regina's hand had gone still in Emma's hair. "Lilith Page... why does that name sound familiar?"

"It didn't seem like you knew her," Emma said, looking up at Regina from her lap.

"No, I didn't, I've never seen her before tonight... the name just sounds like something I've heard before."

"She probably just has one of those names."

Regina shrugged. "Maybe." She pat Emma's leg, indicating she wanted the blonde to get up. "It's getting late, and unlike you, I _do_ need to sleep. I'll have stuff for you tomorrow."

"Hint taken," Emma answered with a smirk. "Goodnight, Regina." Before she could stop herself, she leaned forward and gave the brunette a quick kiss on the cheek. "Bye!" The hunter remained frozen in place while Emma made a mad dash for the window. She jumped from the window, landing in the back alley with a soft thud.

She had the distinct feeling of being watched again, before she felt a pinch in her neck, and her vision went blurry. The last thing she saw before everything went black was a blonde woman, her scarlet painted lips curled into a twisted sneer.


	3. I'll Be Your Twisted Lullaby

Full title: I'll Be Your Twisted Lullaby (The One That Keeps You Up At Night)

 **A/N** : Happy Saturday! You're getting an early update this week :) I'm just about to go to a country fair for a couple days, and I wouldn't be able to update until Tuesday night, so I figured I wouldn't keep y'all waiting :) Back to regularly scheduled Sundays from here on out.

A lot of your questions are going to be answered in this chapter; enjoy!

* * *

When Emma came to, she was tied to a chair with chains that made her skin burn. "Hello?!" She called into the dark. Even with her heightened vision, Emma couldn't see three feet in front of her.

She fought against the chains to no avail; she literally heard her skin sizzle the more she tried to fight.

It was then three women emerged from the darkness and flicked on a solitary overhead light, with the same red-lipped blonde leading the pack. "Well, what do we have here?"

 _Hunters_ was Emma's first thought. Emma hissed, baring her fangs in an attempt to intimidate them.

"Oh, save it." The woman with darker skin said. Emma was able to get a good look at the women now and sank back into her seat; all three of them were sporting red eyes and fangs of their own.

"Who _are_ you?" Emma asked, looking at each of the women in turn.

"We," the blonde answered, clearly some sort of leader, "Are the Queens of Darkness. I'm Maleficent; this is Cruella, and Ursula." The woman, Maleficent, gestured to the woman with an odd frosting job and the woman with dark skin in turn. "And _you,_ " she poked a sharp fingernail into Emma's chest, right where her heart once beat, "Have done a very bad thing. You've caught our attention, and not for a good reason."

 _Now this is what you think of when you think vampires_ Emma thought to herself. "Was it my charming good looks?" Emma smirked

"We don't have many rules. But you've managed to break the most important one of all." Maleficent continued, ignoring Emma's sarcastic comment. "My daughter, Lilith Page is off limits. Not only did you feed on her, you _killed_ her."

Maleficent wasn't acting like someone who had lost their daughter, but Emma didn't think now was the time to bring that up. "I'm sorry... your majesty? I didn't know. She was human and I was so hungry, I–"

"Silence! Of course she's human." The two women stood behind Maleficent, sneering at Emma, baring their fangs in an act of intimidation (it was working, if Emma were to be honest).

"Vampires can have human children?" Emma's curiosity was getting the better of her.

"Of course not, you simpering fool." Cruella spoke up now, her voice dripping with venom. "She–"

Maleficent cut the woman off by raising her hand. "I had her before I turned. She doesn't know who I am... didn't... know who I am. She was under my protection and all vampires of River City were under _strict_ orders not to touch her. You broke that rule."

"Sorry, I wasn't given a rulebook; take that up with your welcoming committee." Emma struggled against her restraints again, fighting against the burning.

"Don't bother, it's pure silver." Ursula rolled her eyes. "We've had our eye on you newbie, hanging around that hunter like you're goddamn suicidal."

"She's my friend, she's helping me."

"Hunters are _not_ your friends, learn that quickly. She's not _helping_ you, she's looking for your weaknesses, and you're going over there and laying your soul bare like a lovesick idiot, what kind of vampire _are_ you?" Ursula snapped.

"Really," Cruella added. "You still have those pesky human feelings, it's quite alarming really."

"I don't _want_ to be like you, and I'm not going to be. So whatever weird initiation you think you're going to put me through, you have another thing coming. The hunter is going to help me, she promised."

"She's an idiot, and you're a murderer, get that through your head!" Cruella yelled at her. "There's no room for mortal friendships, don't you understand that?! Humans, half breeds, they move too quickly for us to keep up. Blink, and they've been dead for a hundred years and you're still missing them!"

Emma was stunned into silence. Cruella, though ruthless and a little rude, still had feelings somewhere. She had the ability to miss people. Maybe Regina was wrong...

"I'm sorry..."

"Not yet, you're not. Daniel?"

A man emerged from the shadows. Emma had no idea if he'd been there the whole time or if he conjured himself out of thin air (was that something vampires could do?). "We're not in the business of making new vampires; you're supposed to be dead." The man's voice was measured, even, in the most unnerving way possible.

"Well I'm dead, mission accomplished." Emma said with a smirk, hoping the man had a sense of humor. He didn't.

"Greg and Jefferson were supposed to bring in the hunter and kill any witnesses. Clearly, they failed _miserably_."

"I still don't understand how this happened."

"There has to be an exchange of blood." The man, Daniel, rolled his eyes, as if talking to Emma was the most inconvenient thing in the world.

"But I didn't..." Emma thought back to that night.

 _Her back was turned away from the chaos in the shop, an inhumanly strong hand clamped around her mouth as she wrestled in their grip. She bit down on the hand covering her mouth, her teeth breaking skin and a dank coppery taste filling her mouth. There was an angered hiss behind her before something sharp pricked her in the neck and she screamed; seconds later the man's grip loosened in time for her to turn around to see Regina standing over the now two dead supernatural creatures in her tattoo shop, breathing heavily._

"Oh. So... what do you want me to do about that? I can't help that they fucked up." Emma tried to shift her wrists again, only to be met with more pain.

"You're going to finish what they started."

Emma's eyes snapped up and met Daniel's cold red ones. "Come again?"

"You're going to bring in Regina Mills."

"What makes you think I'll do anything you say."

Daniel got close to Emma, speaking into her ear. "Because you've been careless, and now we know where she lives. Bring me to her, and you get to live." The man straightened his back, standing over Emma. "I'd tell you to be gentle with her, but I know you will."

"If you think me getting to live is some sort of reward, you haven't been paying attention."

"Your death wish isn't my problem. How about this: bring her to me, and _she_ gets to live. Understand?"

Emma weighed the options in front of her, and at the moment, the scales weren't tipped in her favor. All she had to do was agree, and a plan would come later. "Fine."

"Maleficent, let her go." Maleficent strode over and cut the bonds around her wrist with chain cutters. Emma brought her arms in front of her, glad to be free of her shackles, and the angry red marks faded into her pale skin within seconds.

"So I'll just uh... go now?"

"Not so fast." Ursula prowled towards Emma holding a syringe; instinctively, Emma jumped back. "Don't be a baby. We can't have you knowing where our bunker is."

"So how am I supposed to bring Regina to you?"

"We'll find you." Daniel said, before Ursula stuck Emma in the neck, and her vision went black.

::::

She came to in the alley near the tattoo parlor, the same alley she always felt like she'd been being watched from. "Those sons of bitches couldn't even drop me at home?" she mumbled as she got up and dusted her jeans off. It had been a hell of a night. She'd killed a girl, hid a body, been _kidnapped_ , and now it was right before sunrise.

If she were still human, she'd worry about the fact that she hadn't gotten any sleep. But as it stood, she had just enough time to make it home, shower, and change before she had to be back at work.

Emma sprinted down the street at a decidedly human pace, making it back to her apartment in record time without breaking a sweat. She took the stairs two at a time, content in the fact that she could outrun the elevator. She may not have wanted the immortal life, but there were some perks that came with it.

After getting out of the shower and pulling on a new pair of jeans, a white tank top, and her signature red leather jacket, Emma left her house and made her way to work. When she walked in Neal eyed her carefully.

"You're looking better."

"Yep, I'm feeling great!"

"Whoa, what the fuck?"

"What?" Emma looked over her shoulder. "What is it?"

"Your eyes are like... blood red!"

 _Fuck_. "Oh yeah... I'm trying out contacts, it's kind of a new things. I wanted to match my jacket, you like?"

Neal raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I think it looks kinda creepy to be honest, but I mean, do whatever floats your boat, Swan." He gestured with his thumb to the back room. "I brought donuts."

"Great!" Emma walked into the back room and eyed the donuts on the table. Emma had absolutely no interest in the pastries, but in order to keep up appearances, she picked up a jelly donut and poured herself a cup of coffee before sitting on the couch.

It didn't feel like eating, more than just chewing and swallowing food. Food tasted duller since she'd turned; while other senses were heightened, the only thing she truly hungered for was blood. She took a last bite of the donut and grimaced as she felt it hit her stomach like a brick.

"Thanks for the breakfast Neal!" Emma chirped as she left the back room. _I'm still hungry_ she thought to herself.

"No problem."

Emma set her station up as usual, and just as the clock struck ten, Regina walked in wearing a black backless lace dress, with her hair in a high ponytail..

"You're earlier than usual." Emma eyed the brunette.

"I brought that pomegranate juice you had at my house the other night," Regina raised an eyebrow, pulling six bottles of red liquid out of a cooler that was over her shoulder. "Keep it in the fridge and it'll stay fresh. It starts to go funky after about a week so... take that as you will." Regina handed the blonde the bottles of blood.

"Thanks, you're a lifesaver."

"That's a little dramatic, don't you think?" Regina noticed the rest of the shop was watching their exchange. "I hope you all have a nice day," she added with a smile.

"Can't we have some fruit punch?" Zelena asked from behind the front desk.

"Nope, sorry! I promised Emma it'd be all for her. Next time, okay?"

Emma grabbed Regina's upper arm as she went to talk away, forcing the hunter to turn around. "We need to talk later," she lowered her voice to a whisper.

"My place, after your shift, I'll be there."

Emma nodded. "Okay."

The brunette left the tattoo shop, leaving Emma with an armful of blood bottles, and an awful lot of questions she was going to have to field in 3, 2, 1...

"So, who was _that_?" Zelena asked, waggling her eyebrows. "A new girlfriend?"

Emma sighed. "No Zelena, she's _not_ my girlfriend. She's just a client."

The redhead dramatically turned to her partner who was watching the scene unfold with a smirk on her face. "Lacey, have _you_ ever gone to a client's house late at night and have them bring you snacks during your shift?"

"I can't say that's ever happened," Lacey put her elbows on her knees, leaning forward.

"Better not had," Zelena muttered under her breath.

"She must be very special."

"Don't read into it, Lace," Emma rolled her eyes and walked into the back room, leaving five out of the six bottles in the fridge. She popped the cap on the last bottle and put it to her lips.

The texture of preserved, refrigerated blood was... different, to say the least. Drinking straight from a person was warm and smooth, while what she was drinking now felt more like pudding. It wasn't the most pleasant thing but... she'd take it if it stopped her from becoming a blood-obsessed murderer.

When Emma walked back onto the floor, there was a kid who looked just eighteen standing at the front desk, gesticulating wildly with his hands while talking to Zelena. "Emma," she turned to the blonde, "Do you have time to do a tribal?" She rolled her eyes out of the kid's line of vision. "I know they're not usually your thing, but everyone else is booked up."

Emma sighed. She hated tribal tattoos on principal, but it's not like the kid was asking for a swastika so she couldn't _really_ say no. "You ID'd him, right?" Zelena nodded. "Okay yeah, no problem. What kind of design did you have in mind?" She asked, walking up to the counter.

The kid got to explaining what he wanted. He basically wanted an array of lines and swirls in the form of a half-sleeve, and Emma had to stop her eyes from rolling to the back of her head. She told him to wait at the front while she got to work drawing the design he described.

After thirty minutes and several heavy sighs, Emma produced a stencil she thought the kid would be happy with.

"Aw, that's sick, thanks!"

Emma smiled to hide the grimace that was threatening to spread across her face. She led the boy to her work station and told him to sit in the chair while she got her supplies together. "So, what's your name?"

"Darren."

 _Of course it was_. "I'm Emma," she said as she sat down across from him. Emma pat the arm rest on the tattoo chair, telling the kid to put it there so she could lay the stencil. Once it was down, the boy turned his arm this way and that, looking at it from every angle.

"Nice."

"Alright, you ready?"

"Hell yeah."

Emma turned on the tattoo needle and got to work outlining the design. The kid flinched as soon as the needle hit his skin.

"Are you good?"

"Yeah, I just didn't expect it to hurt."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "It's a needle... of course it's going to hurt."

Darren took a deep breath. "Okay okay, I'm good." Emma put the needle to his skin again, and this time he didn't flinch, but she heard the sharp intake of breath. _Baby_.

Darren wasn't much of a talker, which Emma didn't mind. She could already tell if she was forced to talk to the kid throughout the entire tattoo she'd lose both brain cells and patience. About an hour into the tattoo, after the kid had been watching her face intently for at least twenty minutes, he finally spoke up.

"What's up with your eyes? I've never seen that color before, it looks sick." Emma smiled despite herself; he was the first person not to react with some level of revulsion.

"They're contacts."

He inched his head closer, still examining Emma's face "What about your teeth? Those look sharp as hell man," the kid started moving his hand towards Emma's face.

Emma looked up and locked eyes with the kid. "They're fake, just _drop it_!" His hand froze mid-air before he obediently lowered it to his lap without another word.

 _Did I just... no... did I?_

Emma kept eye contact with Darren. "Slap yourself." Without question, he raised his left hand and swiftly slapped himself across the face. The sound grabbed the attention of everyone in the shop. "A fly landed on him," Emma offered as an explanation.

Everyone shrugged and got back to whatever they were doing.

 _Well damn!_

Emma broke eye contact and got back to tattooing, filing her newfound power of persuasion into the growing folder of 'things she needed to ask Regina about.'

With Darren silently staring off into space and Emma focused on the tattoo she was doing, the afternoon flew by, and by the time Emma was putting the final shading on the design, it was a little after five.

"All done! What do you think?" Emma speaking to him snapped him out of whatever trance he was under.

He examined his arm, a grin splitting across his face that truly showed his age. "Thanks so much Emma!" He extended his fist to Emma, which she awkwardly bumped with her own.

Darren started walking to the front desk, fishing his wallet out of his back pocket. "Hey wait, I've got to wrap that!" Emma took the plastic bandaging from one of the console drawers on her station. "Keep this on for twenty-four hours, and don't pick the scabs off when they start forming, cool?"

"Yeah," he answered, extending his forearm to Emma so she could bandage it. Once it was covered to her satisfaction, Emma nodded her head in Zelena's direction, telling him he could settle up and go. "Thanks again!"

"Don't mention it," Emma called after him.

"I'm going to call it a night, see you tomorrow everyone!" Robin got up, dusting imaginary lint off of his pants.

"Goodnight!" everyone else chorused.

The rest of Emma's night went by in a blur. Lacey toppled off of her platform heels and knocked down about a week's supply of ink, so Emma spent most of her evening cleaning up. Before she knew it, it was nine-o'clock and it was time to leave.

Neal was on lock-up, so Emma got to leave on time, and as soon as she was out of view of the tattoo shop, she broke out into an inhuman run. 9:01, she was at Regina's place, knocking on her window.

"You know you're allowed to use the door," the brunette said as she lifted the window to allow Emma in.

"I know, but I kinda like this being our thing." Emma jumped through the open window, landing on the living room floor with hardly a sound.

"Right." Regina stuck her head out the window, looking down the alley before she shut the window. "So what did you want to talk about?" Regina crossed the living room and went to the kitchen, pulling two single-serve bottles of red wine from the fridge, one clearly marked 'E.' "Want something to drink? Got this one special for ya" Regina waved the bottle with the 'E' on it.

"You've been holding out on me Mills," Emma laughed.

"I knew you'd be around, and I take pride in being a good host." She poured the two glasses of wine, and as soon as she uncorked the bottle meant for her, the scent of wine mixed with blood wafted towards her. Emma hummed appreciatively.

Regina came back to the living room with the two glasses in hand and gave Emma her glass before she sat on the couch, patting the spot beside her.

"So, what's going on? Please tell me you haven't murdered anyone since last night."

"No, of course not!" Emma reacted immediately, as if that was the most outlandish assumption. "I'm just going to say something super nonchalantly, then we're going to move on, okay?" Emma stopped, waiting for Regina to nod. "So I got kidnapped last night."

Regina choked on the sip of wine she just took and struggled to swallow it before she started coughing up a lung. Emma clapped her on the back until the brunette's breathing returned to normal and she waved Emma away. "You _what_?"

"So... there are more vampires in town, which I guess you would know since... well it's your job to know... how much does that even pay by the way, total side note?"

Regina glared at her.

"Never mind. After I left your house last night I got knocked out and taken to some bunker... I thought they were hunters at first but apparently it was some underground league of vampires." Regina nodded along, listening intently. "And apparently I broke some cardinal vampire rule. Lilith Page? There were these women who called themselves the 'Queens of Darkness' and Lilith was one of the vampire's daughter. Apparently it's a well-known rule that Lilith is off limits..."

Regina slapped her hand on her thigh. "That's where I know the name! Oh shit. That was Maleficent's daughter. And they just let you walk? You should be _super_ dead... what did you promise them?"

"Ahh, that's the thing," Emma scratched the back of her neck. "They want me to bring you in." The vampire shifted on the couch, which caused Regina to jump up and put as much distance between her and Emma as possible.

"And that's what you've come to do..." Regina started slowly reaching behind her for a weapon.

"No! God no!" Emma put her hands up in surrender. "I wanted to _warn_ you! I told them I was going to bring you in just so they'd let me go, but _God_ I'd never do that! But... that means we can't see each other anymore. No more tattoos, no more late-night meet ups..." Emma got up from the couch, her hands still held up.

"Emma..."

"And if I can't see you ever again... there's something I've been _dying_ to do." She was moving towards Regina slowly, her hands still raised to show the brunette she meant no harm. "Do you trust me?"

Regina nodded, unable to form words.

Emma reached the hunter, she could hear Regina's pulse racing under her skin. She put her hands on the brunette's shoulders, her body heat spreading up her arms and warming her entire body. "Tell me to stop, and I will."

Emma kissed her, softly at first, willing her teeth not to bite like they felt spring loaded to do. Regina gasped at the feeling, pulling their bodies closer as she kissed her back. The brunette parted Emma's lips with her tongue, exploring her mouth like this was the single moment she'd been waiting for her whole life. She seemed to temporarily forget about Emma's little _affliction_ , and her tongue grazed over one of Emma's fangs.

She jumped back, holding her mouth. "Ow, fuck."

The taste of Regina's blood was in her mouth, and Emma's head was spinning for a whole different reason. She put her hands on Regina's chest and gently pushed her back, desperate for distance. The vampire closed her eyes tight, pacing the room in order to calm herself down. As much as she was sated for the time being, Regina's blood was intoxicating, and it was a decadence she refused to indulge in ever again.

After a few breaths, Emma was centered again. She stalked over to Regina, giving her a chance to stop her, and when she didn't, she was back on Regina, holding her face, kissing her again. Emma's hands slid under her tank top and up her back. Regina whimpered, and Emma hesitated.

"Did I hurt you?" Emma asked, her forehead against Regina's, their breath mingling in the space between them.

"What? No. Kiss me you idiot."

And this time, Regina kissed her, raking her hands through Emma's hair, eliciting a shudder from the blonde. Emma wanted nothing more than to ravish the beautiful woman any way she'd let her, but that would mean getting attached, and if she was never going to see her again, getting attached was literally the worst thing she could do.

Emma broke the kiss. "I should get going." Their foreheads were still pressed against each other's, neither wanting the moment to end.

"I–" Regina stopped herself, putting her hands on Emma's chest to increase the distance between them. "Yeah."

Emma stepped back, and like that, the moment was over. The heat that Regina had spreading through her body had gone cold once again. She made her way to the window and pressed her forehead against the window pane, looking into the back alley for the last time.

"Thanks Regina, for everything."

"Yeah," her voice was raspy. "You behave, okay? I'll get you supplies the best way I can, but you won't see me."

Emma turned and looked at Regina for the last time, the woman that ended up being her savior when she should have been her undoing.

"Vampire management is kind of my thing," she chuckled, but it was a hollow sound.

Emma took that as her cue to open the window and leave. "Oh! One more thing. Someone named Daniel says hi? I don't know if that's supposed to mean something?"

The warmth that had been on Regina's face disappeared in an instant. "Daniel?"

"Who's Daniel?" By Regina's reaction, he was more than just some high-ranking vampire.

Regina's eyes were cold. "My first love."

"What? You told me he died!" Regina had spoken about a love who had died, but she never told Emma his name. It was during one of their earlier appointments, when Regina had stayed back to talk with Emma after her tattoo was done. Back then, there were only seventeen tally marks on her back.

"He's dead to me."

"Did you know him... before?" Regina wasn't inviting her back inside, so it appeared this conversation was going to happen on Regina's fire escape. As if on cue, the brunette climbed out the window and sat with her back against the brick wall. Emma followed suit and sat on the stairs leading to the next floor.

"We went to school together. We were both training to become hunters. Mother _told me_ not to fall in love with a hunter, that it would only cause me pain, but as usual, I didn't listen. We were out on a mission, there was a whole group of us... but we were ambushed. I turned around and Daniel was getting dragged off." Regina's eyes were glassy as she spoke to Emma. "I thought he was dead. I mourned him. I finished my training soon after that and became a full-fledged hunter, and I was stationed in this small town called Storybrooke, a coastal town in Maine. One night, I heard a knock on my window, and he was there. I thought it was a miracle, but when I got closer, I realized he was one of them. The love I used to see in those eyes were gone, replaced with anger and bloodlust." Regina was crying now, and Emma moved from her spot on the stairs to sit beside Regina, and the brunette put her head on the vampire's shoulder immediately. "I didn't let him in, obviously, and I asked to be reassigned immediately. That's how I ended up here."

Regina wiped her eyes, keenly aware of letting herself be vulnerable in front of anyone. "And now he wants me dead, that's nice."

Emma was never good with emotions, especially other people's. "If it's any consolation, he was pretty specific about bringing you in alive..."

Regina looked at Emma in the corner of her eye before laughing. "God, you're terrible at this."

"Sorry!"

Regina looked down to the alley below. "You should probably go now..."

The blonde stood up. "Right."

Regina used the wall to get up. Emma was about to jump when Regina touched her arm, prompting her to turn around. "Behave out there, alright?" She smiled a watery smile. "Don't make me have to hunt you down."

Emma nodded before jumping off the fire escape and landing in the alley below an instant later. When she looked back up at the fifth floor window, Regina was gone, and the window was closed.


	4. The Secret of Daylight Daughters

**A/N** : Sorry this chapter is a little shorter than my usual, but the story goes where it goes *shrug.* Also, I know in canon Emma was born in 1983, but for the sake of this story I needed her to be 28. As usual, I hope you enjoy!

* * *

It had been a week since Emma bid Regina goodbye on her fire escape. She hadn't been confronted by any vampires in alleyways, so she figured if she just got back to normal life as best as possible, she could put the whole thing behind her. Logically, there were more hunters than Regina in all of River City, and she put stock in false hope that they'd obliterated the Queens of Darkness.

Just as her last client was walking out for the day, Regina squeezed in right as she was about to lock the door.

"What are you _doing_ here?" Emma hissed, even though there was no one else in the store to hear her. "I thought we agreed we weren't going to see each other."

"That's what _you_ said," Regina countered. "And for the first few days, I accepted that. But it dawned on me this morning; I'm not going to let those monsters win and spend my life cowering in fear. If I want to see you, I will."

Emma had just had a long day, and Regina showing up had really thrown her off guard. "I'm _one_ of them Regina, don't you get that? Do you think of me as a monster too?"

The hunter looked hurt. "No, of course not. You know that."

"Do I?! Maybe this is all one big game to you, what do I know!"

"Emma, you're being paranoid, stop it." Emma hissed at the brunette, baring her fangs.

"Oh, so scary! I have big fangs and I'm not afraid to show them! Pull yourself together Emma!" Regina crossed the room and delivered a swift slap across the face.

"Ow!' Emma rubbed her cheek.

"Are you done?"

The vampire growled, but nodded her head. "Sorry."

"Okay. Now that _that's_ over, can you give me two more tallies?"

Emma raised her eyebrows. "You've been busy."

"Well sitting around and moping doesn't pay the bills, now does it? And before you ask, it was no one you've encountered, unfortunately. The Queens of Darkness have been eluding the hunters for years, and that's not going to change all of a sudden."

Regina took her usual place on Emma's tattoo bench and lay on her stomach, her head on her hands as if she was sitting on a beach sunning herself.

Emma got a bottle of black ink from the shelf and a fresh needle before sitting at her station and preparing the spot on Regina's back where she was going to add the new marks. "What happens when you run out of room?"

"Start a new row," Regina said nonchalantly.

Emma turned the needle on and started drawing the new lines. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Mhmm."

"Do vampires have the ability to make people do whatever they want?"

Regina turned her head. "No... why?"

"Because I think that happened a little over a week ago. I forgot to bring it up that night we got uh... distracted." If Emma's heart were still beating, she'd be blushing something furious. "This kid was here getting a stupid tattoo and asking too many questions, and I told him to drop it, and he did."

Regina rolled her eyes. "Maybe he just decided it was wise to listen to the woman who was wielding a needle over his body."

"No, but then I told him to slap himself and he did."

Regina sat up, startling Emma. "That's not a vampire thing. It's called compulsion; the ability to bend mortals to the user's will. The only people I've heard of having compulsion are Daylight Daughters, and they only used it against evil... well, them and hunters."

Emma dropped her tattoo gun in shock. "What? You have magic?"

Regina shook her head. "Not exactly. See this tattoo here," she pointed at the feather that was on her wrist. "It's infused with magic. It helps me heal faster than I would otherwise, and it gives me the power of compulsion. It's weak at best though; it only works if you're familiar with the person you're trying to compel, and they have to trust you pretty implicitly." She blushed. "That's why I was so surprised it worked on you that night."

"Again I say, what? When did you compel me?"

"That night when the vampires attacked. The night... you got changed. You were asking too many questions and I um... asked you to go home, go to sleep, and promised that everything would be fine the next day... I took a gamble and I was surprised it worked."

Emma thought back to that night. It was only about two weeks ago, but it felt like a lifetime ago. "You had just saved me from being mauled by a supernatural creature, I had no choice but to trust you. Can you compel me now? To help me control my thirst?"

Regina shook her head. "My compulsion only works on humans, and again, barely."

Emma phrased her next question carefully. "If I could do it… would it work on you?"

Regina stiffened before relaxing again. "In theory, yes. That is, if what you experienced was actually compulsion."

"May I try?"

Regina considered this. Giving herself over to a vampire was incredibly high on the list of things she shouldn't do... but really, she'd already done that. "Okay."

Emma released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "Okay, something easy, something dumb." She locked eyes with Regina, forcing herself not to get lost in their mahogany depths. "Say the alphabet backwards."

Immediately, Regina broke out into the reverse alphabet. "Z, Y, X, W, V–"

"Stop."

Regina stopped, her eyes wide. "That's a new one."

"What does it mean? Why can I do things other vampires can't?"

"I've been asking myself that question since you were turned." Regina lay back down on the table so Emma could finish her tattoos. Emma could see ideas forming in Regina's head as her eyes darted back and forth deep in thought. The blonde decided against asking what she was thinking; she figured she'd be privy to her thoughts if and when the time came that she needed to know.

"When's your birthday?" Regina asked suddenly.

Emma was caught off guard by the change in topic. "October 22nd... why?"

Regina waved her off. "Just wondering, doesn't matter."

"Is this a horoscope thing?"

"No. You being a Libra-Scorpio cusp is irrelevant."

"Okay..." Emma finished the second tally and cleaned and bandaged the area before telling Regina she could sit up. "What are you thinking?" Curiosity finally got the best of her.

"Nothing. Thanks Emma!" Regina put sixty dollars on the table before practically sprinting out of the tattoo shop. "See you soon!"

::::

Three days after Regina had run out of Ever After with a determined glint in her eye, there was a feverish knock on her apartment door. Emma was enjoying a rare day off, sitting on the couch watching Jerry Springer and sipping on her new beverage of choice (B-negative mixed with pomegranate juice and a splash of sprite). She wasn't expecting guests, but still she got up and answered the door.

Regina hardly gave her a chance to open the door all the way before she was barging into her living room clutching a book that looked like it was straight out of a fairytale.

"Studying Elvish now?" Emma asked as she kicked the door closed and followed the brunette into the living room.

"Ha ha, very funny. You're going to want to hear what I have to say."

Emma sat on the couch and crossed her legs, looking at Regina intently. "What?"

"I have a theory, and just hear me out, okay? I think you might be the last Daylight Daughter."

Emma sputtered for an answer. "That's mental. That's absolutely crazy, you've lost it!"

"No, listen! Haven't you ever wished for something small and had it come true? Are there days where it just seemed everything was working out perfectly? Every green light was in your favor?"

Emma scratched her head. "I guess, but I don't see how having a few good days means I'm the last of some mystical light magic race!"

"Remember how I said it's easy to hide magic in the mundane? This is what I'm talking about! Little bits of magic are all around us but most people spend their lives ignoring it!" Regina opened the book she had been holding on Emma's coffee table. Curiosity got the best of the blonde, and she peeked at the pages, not particularly sure what she was looking for. "Mary Margaret Blanchard was the last known Daylight Daughter, and she died giving birth to a baby girl."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's sad but I don't see what that's got to do with anything."

"Let me finish! She died on October 22nd, 1989. The human father, struck with grief disappeared and is presumed dead, but that's just a hunch. What we _do_ know, is that the baby girl was put up for adoption and got lost in the system, never to be heard from again... even the hunters don't know where she ended up. Emma! What if that's you?!"

"You'd think people would pay more attention to the heir to magical bloodlines, don't you think? It all just sounds like a huge coincidence to me."

Regina sighed. "There are no such things as coincidences! Don't you get it? If you're the last Daylight Daughter, you might have the power to cure yourself! Daylight Daughters get their power from the sun, which could _explain_ why you don't burn up in daylight like you should. It would explain your compulsion, it would explain everything!"

Emma mulled this information over. "So, say I really was the last of the... what did you call them, Eupetics, then what? I don't know anything about this kind of magic... any kind of magic really, and _you_ don't know much more. I don't see how I'd have the ability to save myself when I barely know what's going on."

Regina's smile dimmed. "Yeah, that's the one thing I haven't quite figured out yet. Light magic isn't really spell based, it's something you need to be taught to feel and well... the only thing I know of Daylight Daughters is what I've read in books. I don't want to get your hopes up, but... this could actually work."

"Oh don't worry," Emma took a sip of her drink, "My hopes aren't up at all. I've made my peace with my condition, and I really suggest you do the same. I mean hey, who doesn't want to live forever."

Regina sighed, shaking her head. "Immortality isn't living forever. It's watching everyone you'll ever know and love grow old and die, not being able to do anything about it. It's not a gift, it's a curse."

"Funny, Cruella said something like that."

"Not surprising, she's one of the oldest vampires still living in River City."

"Someone made from darkness being able to do light magic sounds like something that shouldn't be able to happen... " Emma sighed when she saw the look of mild annoyance on Regina's face. "Fine. I'll try. I don't know _what_ I'm trying, but I'll do my best."

"Thank you."

Emma got up off the couch. "Do you want some wine?"

Regina wrinkled her nose. "I'll pass, thanks."

"There's nothing in it. I _do_ still have human friends you know."

Regina laughed. "In that case, sure."

Emma poured Regina a glass of red wine and topped up her drink before returning to the couch, and that's how they spent the rest of the afternoon. Regina had originally started off on the other side of the couch, but somewhere between Jerry Springer and Big Brother, Regina had shifted, and her head was rested on Emma's chest, their legs tangled with one another. Emma's cold skin refreshed Regina, while Regina's warm body comforted Emma.

To any onlooker, they just looked like two people, friends, maybe more, enjoying each other's company. The blonde looked down at Regina who was enthralled with what was playing on television, and her stone-still heart ached for the normalcy she would never have with Regina, and could never have again.

In a few years, a decade at the most, she would have to move, somewhere far, and never see her friends again. Then she'd have to do that again, and again, and again. Everyone would grow old and die, and there she would be, forever twenty-eight.

Emma sighed, and that caught Regina's attention. She clearly registered the look on Emma's face, because she sat up and turned her body so they were face to face. "Everything okay? You look like someone just killed your puppy."

"What? Yeah, no I'm fine," Emma answered, and she didn't even believe her.

Regina studied her face before sighing and laying back down. The brunette always knew when to push her and when to pull back, and Emma was thankful for that. Emma absentmindedly ran her fingers along Regina's exposed arm, drawing patterns, before switching to letters. A, B, C... she went down the alphabet until she got to 'I,' then stopped.

 _I like you_. She drew onto Regina's skin. The brunette didn't seem to notice what she was doing, so she just kept going. _I like you, I like you, I like you._ When Emma looked at Regina again, she had fallen asleep. Something about that made Emma smile, the fact that Regina was comfortable enough around her, around her sworn enemy that she would let her guard down and fall asleep.

Emma got up as slow as possible, before lifting the brunette into her arms and putting her into her bed, before returning to the couch with an extra blanket she got out of the cupboard.

She was watching the TV on one notch above mute, when she managed to fall asleep. Emma had learned if her mind was quiet enough, she could sleep. It wasn't exactly _rest_ because she didn't find herself getting tired, but it was relaxing, and more than that, it meant she didn't have to fill twenty-four entire hours with activity.

When she woke up, the entire night had gone by, and the morning news was playing on her TV. She got up to close the curtains before tiptoeing into her room. She wasn't surprised to see that Regina wasn't there, but a yellow post-it stuck to the lamp caught her attention.

 _Didn't mean to fall asleep on you! See you soon! -R_

Emma didn't take Regina to be a smiley-face person, but there it was, a dumb little smiley-face drawn in the bottom corner of her note.

She walked out into the living room and looked at the clock. She didn't have to be in the shop until one, so she still had several hours to kill.

Emma started flicking through the book that Regina had brought and left behind the night before. It spoke of the brave race of light witches known as Daylight Daughters, who dedicated their life, much like hunters, to ridding the world of vampires and other evil.

She wanted Regina to be right, she wanted there to be a way to cure herself, because as much as she played it off, she really _didn't_ want to live forever, especially if her friends weren't living with her. Emma scoured the book cover to cover, not finding anything more than vague allusions to curing vampirism, but even when they did mention it, it was shrouded in mystery and danger. She closed the cover, having no more answers than she did when she started reading.

Her phone dinged, telling her she had fifteen minutes before she had to be at work. She slapped on some makeup and changed her clothes before she ran out the door and made it to the tattoo parlor with moments to spare.

::::

Emma had just got home for the night when there was a frantic knock on her door. Emma opened it, and Regina ran in, looking over her shoulder as if she was being followed.

"Well, hello to you too." Emma said, closing the door. "If you wanted to cuddle again, you could have just asked." Regina rounded on Emma, and there was no humor on her face; Emma sobered. "What's wrong?"

"I'm in _so_ much trouble."

"What happened?" Emma leaned against the wall.

"The Hunter High Council, _that's_ what happened."

"The what now?"

"My bosses! I ran into a newbie hunter this morning and they uh... they smelled you on me."

Emma furrowed her brow. "I'm _sorry_ , do I stink or something?"

Regina nodded. "You reek of un-death, you can't help it. It was all over my clothes and he assumed I was having... intimate relations with a vampire. I'm pretty sure he's going to report me to get into the High Council's good graces, and then they'll find you."

Emma tilted her head before moving herself from the wall. "So what does that mean?"

"It means we have less time than I thought. I have an idea, a hunch if you will. It's a long shot, and if I'm wrong, it'll probably kill you. Do you trust me?"

"With such a glowing testimony, how could I not?" Emma rolled her eyes. "My life is in your hands."

"Be ready to go tomorrow evening, and _don't_ leave your house until then, understand?"

"But I have work–"

"Call in sick!" Regina yelled, before taking a deep breath. "I'm going to go home now, don't answer the door to anyone. Goodnight."

The brunette left without another word, leaving Emma with her thoughts reeling.

She spent the night pacing her apartment, jumping at any creak or squeak the building made. She tried to do magic, but she didn't know what she was doing; all that ended up happening was her throwing several candles at the wall in frustration. Emma looked over the book again, desperate to find something she'd missed before. Logically, it made sense that this faction of light witches didn't write all their secrets down where anyone could find them, but it still annoyed Emma to no end.

Her life literally depended on her being able to do magic, and if Emma thought about it too long, it would drive her to hysterics. The ridiculousness of what had now become her life wasn't lost on her, and she wondered what choice it was that lead her to getting turned into a vampire and relying on magic to save her mortal soul.

Sometime just after midnight, there was a knock at the door. Emma shook her head to clear the cobwebs and shut the book before heading to the door. "Back so–" The question died on her lips when it wasn't Regina on the other side of the door, but the Queens of Darkness.


	5. The Humanity That Remains

"Hello Emma," Maleficent drawled. "Aren't you going to invite us in?"

"I'd really rather not."

Cruella smirked, baring her fangs. "I thought you'd say that," she turned to the other vampire. "Ursula dear, would you be able to find our hunter friend? I'm sure she's _dying_ to see Emma again."

Emma's eyes widened. "Fine, fine, come in." The three women stepped over the threshold, closing the door behind them. Instinctively, Emma took several steps back. "What do you want?"

"Daniel is growing impatient," Maleficent said. "We gave you a very simple task, and yet you've been unable to deliver."

Emma crossed her arms. "It's not like Regina is super comfortable around me." She's lying through her teeth and she knows it. "I have to gain her trust so I don't have to literally drag her kicking and screaming. Besides, I still don't know where your damn lair is."

"She's not comfortable, _really_? She seemed rather _comfortable_ last night," Ursula sneered.

"Have you been spying on me?!"

"Not always... we have better things to do, you know. Anyways, Daniel's good will has run out." Maleficent said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Emma took another step back.

"He no longer wants you to bring Regina in," Emma breathed a sigh of relief, before Maleficent continued. "He wants you to kill her."

Emma choked. "What?"

Maleficent tilted her head and smirked, reveling in catching Emma off guard. "He wants you to kill. Regina. Problem?"

Emma opened and closed her mouth like a fish. "Give me three days." If the cure actually worked, this little contract would be null and void. If it didn't, well... it sounded like she'd be dead anyways, and Regina would be relocated far from here.

"Fine. In seventy-two hours, meet us in the alley behind the hunter's apartment, with said hunter in tow. Goodnight Emma." The three women let themselves out, and once again, Emma was left alone with her thoughts.

Needless to say, Emma didn't get any sleep that night.

::::

Just after twilight, there was a knock on her door. Emma had been on edge all day, staring at the door and not moving. She couldn't be sure who it was, so she didn't answer.

Her phone buzzed beside her, and two words, ' _it's me_ ' flashed on the screen. Tentatively, Emma made her way across the living room and opened the door to a grim looking Regina.

"Come in," Emma stepped back, allowing Regina through the door. "What's your plan?"

"I didn't want to do this until I knew for sure, but we have no choice. That fucking hunter _did_ report me, the sniveling rat..."

"So that means..."

"We have to go to the Hunter High Council before they find you."

"What?!"

"We have to prove to them that you're not a threat; we need to prove to them that you're the last living Eupetic, that's your only hope of getting out of this." Emma looked skeptical. "I told you your life depended on a hunch!"

"Well, yours does too."

"What do you mean?"

"The Queens of Darkness are out for blood. I'm supposed to deliver your corpse to them in uh..." Emma turned and looked at the clock on her microwave, "a little over sixtyt hours."

" _Why_ would you agree to that?!"

"I figure if the cure works, I'll be an irrelevant human and not subject to their rule, and if it doesn't work and the hunters kill me, you'll probably be relocated to the other side of the world as punishment so you'd be safe."

Regina shook her head. "If the cure works, you'll be the last of the Daylight Daughters, the singular most powerful weapon against vampires in human form. If it works, you'll be in more danger than you know."

Emma exhaled. "Okay."

"Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Regina moved towards the door. "Wait." The brunette turned around.

"Mhmm?"

"If I'm about to go to my death, I just have to say something, and I don't know if it's just the vampirism making me feel... things but," she wrung her hands, unsure where to start. "I like you."

"I know."

"No." Frustration built in her chest, fingers curling and uncurling. "I don't mean as a friend!"

"I know," again softly. Regina smiled. "You're like an open book, you really thought you could keep that a secret? From me? Idiot."

"And?"

Regina closed the distance between the two, taking Emma by the shoulders. Lips pressed sweetly, gently, against Emma's own despite the fierceness of the hold. A desperate sound escaped Emma's throat before the brunette pulled back, her cheeks flushed. "And I don't do deathbed confessions. Talk to me when you're human."

"You're confident."

"In my line of work, not being confident gets you killed." She stepped back, a playful smile on her face, "And for the record, vampirism doesn't make you feel anything you weren't already feeling as a human. Come on, let's go."

Emma followed behind the brunette, to her death or her salvation, she still wasn't sure, but if kissing Regina Mills would be the last thing she did before she died, well, there were worse ways to go.

::::

Emma didn't know what kind of car she expected Regina to drive, but a Mercedes from the eighties wasn't on that list. They drove in silence, Regina's tension radiating off of her in waves. They pulled up to an empty field that had a parking lot and not much else. "We're here."

Emma got out of the car and looked around, confused. "Did you bring me all the way out here to kill me?" Emma asked with a chuckle.

Regina, to her credit, laughed too. "No, don't be ridiculous. The headquarters is hidden to anyone who isn't a hunter; stops random humans from stumbling across it and walking in."

"Okay..." Emma stared at the field, trying to find some sort of break in reality that would indicate there was any magic present. "So... how do I get into a building that doesn't want to be seen?"

"You close your eyes and let me lead you in."

"Oh." Emma closed her eyes and let Regina put a hand on her back, guiding her, she assumed, to the building. She heard a keypad beeping somewhere to her left before a mechanical whoosh and the bustle of people assaulted her senses. She stepped forward, and the whoosh happened again.

"Open your eyes," Regina whispered, and when she did, Emma was shocked. It looked like she stepped into some steampunk version of the seventeenth century. The walls were made of immaculate stone, but there were screens and monitors all over the walls. Before she had too much time to gawk, Regina ushered her down a side hallway, and they were alone.

"I wanted to see!" Emma whined.

"You can see all you want when you're _not_ a vampire anymore. Everyone out there wants your kind dead, remember?"

"Right." Emma sulked. They walked down a stone hallway that looked a lot more modern, until they reached another wooden door.

Regina knocked an intricate beat, before an authoritative voice sounded from the other side. "Enter."

"This is it. Don't speak unless spoken to, alright?"

Emma nodded.

They walked through the door, and Emma was greeted with an imposing looking table at which three people sat. "This is the Hunter High Council," Regina said. Regina brought Emma in front of the superior hunters: Rosalyn Faye, Graham Humbert, and of course, Regina's mother, Cora Mills.

"I bring this vampire Emma Swan into our world because I strongly believe that she's the last living Daylight Daughter, which means she has the power to cure her vampirism, and be an asset to the hunters, if she is allowed to live." The brunette's hands were wringing her hands behind her back, but her gaze remained sure. "I've been watching her closely, and she doesn't exhibit the same impulsive recklessness typically present in Pravs. She's of no danger to us, and my association and research with her is what caused me to smell of un-death."

Emma had to fight the smirk that was threatening to spread on her face. _Research_ , that's what we were calling it now, okay.

Cora peered down at the couple from her seat. "Her eyes are red; she's claimed an innocent life."

Regina faltered. "Yes, but–"

"She's a bloodsucker, Regina. Just because she didn't rip your head off doesn't mean she's any different. Why are you wasting our time?" Cora waved her hand, and two large men came, presumably to take _both_ of them away; Emma to her death, and Regina to reassignment.

"Wait!" Regina exclaimed, stopping the men in their tracks. "She has magic!"

This intrigued the council. "Explain," Rosalyn said.

"She has the power of compulsion. She can compel anyone, even hunters. If you allow her, she can show you."

Rosalyn stepped down from the high table. "I'll allow it. If she tries any funny business, she'll be dead quicker than you can blink."

Emma was shaking. If she messed this up, her one shot at a cure was over, and she'd be dead, for real this time. The hunter came into her personal space, and the air around her reeked of unwelcomeness and disdain. Emma took a steadying breath, before locking eyes with Rosalyn. "Hop on one foot and say 'Emma Swan is the best.'"

Instantly, the hunter complied. She started hopping on one foot (although that was probably extremely ill-advised due to the heels she was wearing), and proclaimed "Emma Swan is the best."

"Stop." Emma said, and then broke eye contact.

Rosalyn put both feet on the ground, with a look of shock etched on her face. "Well I'll be damned."

"Do you believe me now?" Regina asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Rosalyn?" Graham addressed the other hunter.

"That was compulsion alright, some of the strongest I've ever encountered. I can't say for certain if she's a Daylight Daughter or not, but she's got magic."

"We have to give her a chance, don't you think?" Graham asked the two women in turn.

Cora looked like she'd rather do anything but give Emma a chance. "It would be irresponsible not to." Emma chanced a glance at Regina, who, under her mask of professionalism, looked just as worried as she was. "If you'd give us a moment, I'd like to speak to our... guest." She looked at Emma like she was worth less than the dirt she scraped off her shoe.

"Of course Mother." Regina looked like the last thing she wanted to do was leave Emma alone with her mother, but she had to comply. "I'll be right outside when you're finished."

Cora dismissed Graham and Rosalyn, along with her daughter and the two guards who had been in the room. Once the door closed behind them, Cora turned to Emma. "I've never met a vampire who wanted to be human again. Then again, I've never given a vampire the chance to say so. What's your angle?"

"No angle, ma'am. I don't want to be this way. I don't want everyone I care about to die around me, I don't want to depend on blood to survive, I–"

"Oh don't pull the tragic immortal bullshit on me," Cora hissed. "What kind of idiot falls for someone who is quite literally trying to kill you? Don't think I didn't notice the way you look at my daughter. Are you suicidal, is that it?"

 _Fuck, she was caught_. "Well, don't stage an intervention." She tried to sound casual, because 'she makes me feel like my heart could beat again' clearly wasn't going to go over well.

Cora looked like she wanted to wring her neck right then and there, if the way her fists were clenching by her sides was anything to go off of. "So, _you_ think you're the last heir to a race of light magic users. _You_. An ex-con turned tattoo artist, turned vampire."

Emma scratched the back of her neck, uncomfortable at the scrutiny. "I believe so ma'am."

"Now... that leaves me with the decision of what to do with you. We can't let you walk around unsupervised, and we can't tell all the hunters in River City about you... could lead to leaks."

"Understood."

"But," the woman sighed, "it wouldn't be right to keep you in a cage, if your intention is truly to be cured of your affliction and help us. Research has to be done; there has only been one instance of a vampire being cured, and it's my job to ensure no one is put in undue danger."

"Yes ma'am."

"So, until we figure out exactly what the process is... you're going to be relegated to a room far _far_ away from everyday business. We will provide you with..." she spat out the next word, "Sustenance, and you are not to leave unless escorted, understood?"

Emma nodded.

Cora strode over to the door and punched in a number, allowing everyone back inside, along with Regina who looked relieved to see Emma still standing.

"I'm not sure if your claims are substantiated, but there is value in trying. If you're right Regina, this will be huge for the hunters and our quest to rid the world of darkness. And if you're wrong, well... there will be one less vampire either way. Are you amenable to all of this Miss Swan?" Cora turned to Emma, daring her to object.

"I am, thank you for the opportunity."

"Take her to the West Wing," Cora told one of the guards. Regina moved to follow along with them. "Oh and Regina?" The brunette turned around to face her mother. "We'll be speaking later. Once you escort your... friend to her quarters, come find me in my office."

"Yes mother."

Regina, Emma, and the guard who hadn't bothered to introduce themselves all walked down the hallway in silence. The man had a firm grip on Emma's shoulder to the point where it borderline hurt. It felt like she was being walked to the electric chair, but she couldn't help but feel like she was literally being led to salvation.

After countless elevators and pathways, getting beyond lost in the labyrinth that was the Hunter's headquarters, Emma was escorted into a room that looked much more comfortable than she expected. Instead of stone walls and a thin single bed, the room was bright, with a window that looked out to a picturesque lake that was (apparently) behind the facility. The walls were wood-paneled, and there was a fire roaring in the hearth and the bed looked more comfortable than her own.

"I trust this is acceptable?" The man asked Emma, not sounding like he cared much about what Emma thought one way or another.

"It's perfect, thank you."

The man nodded before taking his leave, making the sign of the cross as he exited the room.

"Are you going to stay at headquarters tonight?" Emma asked. "The Queens of Darkness are still out there, and if they so much as hear that I'm in here, they might try to kill you themselves, and I know you said you weren't going to cower in fear, but _please_ don't go."

Regina smirked, reaching for the vampire's hand. "If you wanted me to stay, all you had to do was ask."

"Regina, I'm serious."

"If it really means that much to you, I'll stay in my room here tonight." Emma pouted. "Do you _really_ think my mother wouldn't object to me sleeping in the same room as you?"

"Fine."

"Speaking of her, she's probably waiting." Regina leaned forward and captured Emma's lips with her own, which Emma gladly returned. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow."

::::

Regina came into Emma's room the next morning with a tray of food and an unreadable expression on her face. Emma had been hanging off her bed for the last three hours in an attempt to pass the time.

"What are you doing?"

"I was bored." Emma put her hands down and kicked her legs like she was coming out of a handstand, landing on her feet. "You brought food!" While it looked like a human breakfast, one whiff and Emma could tell that the fruit punch, chocolate muffin, and coffee were all laced. "Did you eat already?"

"Of course." Regina smiled, endeared that Emma would check.

Emma sat on the floor cross-legged (there weren't any tables or chairs in the bedroom) and got to eating. "How mad was your mom?"

"Less so than I thought, but I still got an earful. She's convinced I've been 'fornicating with the Devil' so that was a fun chat to have." Regina rolled her eyes.

"Yikes, sorry, that might partially be my fault. Any progress on the cure?"

Regina shook her head. "The researchers are on a human schedule so they slept through the night. They're on it now though. We should have at least a vague idea of what we need to do by tonight."

Emma took out her phone, surprised she could catch a signal. She held up a finger as she dialed Ever After and took the rest of the week off of work, saying she went out of town with a friend last minute. Neal sounded skeptical and a little bit irritated, but he wasn't her boss, so he couldn't really say anything one way or another. "See you next week Emma," he said before hanging up the phone.

"Neal's pissed," Emma said as she hung up her phone. "Oh well."

Regina gave her a funny look. "What's it like?"

"What? Working with Neal?"

"No," she laughed. "Having a normal life."

Emma shrugged. "I'm not really the best candidate to talk about a normal life right now."

Regina sighed, fixing her gaze out the window. "I miss it."

"What do you mean?"

"I went to normal school until sixth grade, all hunters do. I was _so_ excited to start middle school with some of my best friends, but then my mother dropped the bombshell about me being a vampire hunter. I had to leave all my friends, and start training. Don't get me wrong, I have friends here, but it's not the same." She sighed again. "All anyone talks about in here is vampires and death, that's why I don't stay here; it's safer, but it was killing me."

She looked at Emma now. "If I'm going to be honest, that's why I came and saw you as much as I did. You didn't see me as a hunter or a weapon, I was just a girl with weird tally marks going down her back, and you didn't treat me any different for it. We were able to talk about our past and stupid shit, and it was nice. Even now, I'm the reason you're in this situation, and you've never been scared of me... not really."

"You've never given me any reason to be afraid of you."

Regina chuckled. "Not even when I had a gun pointed at you?"

"I'll be honest, that gave me pause." Emma laughed. "But you've never been Regina the hunter to me, you're just Regina the girl with the tattoos and the insufferably enchanting brown eyes. And maybe after all of this is done, you'll be Regina my girlfriend?"

Regina's jaw dropped. "I don't know if–"

"Yeah, we met under weird circumstances, and yes, on paper we're a disaster, but tell me your heart doesn't race for a hurricane or a burning building. I'd rather die terrified than live forever."

Her her eyes softened and she smiled one of those rare, soft smiles. "Yeah. I'll be your girlfriend."

Just as Emma was moving to kiss Regina, a knock on the door startled the pair. Emma went to open the door, and a guard, Cora, and another girl Emma didn't know walked in, and the girl looked terrified.

Cora tilted her head towards the girl. "This is Grace, she's one of the feeders we keep on hand for any visiting Sals but... she's at your service."

Emma's eyes were the size of saucers. "Oh no, I... Regina already brought..."

Cora shook her head. "You need your strength, and the only way you're going to get that is straight from the source." She raised an eyebrow. "Drink up Miss Swan."

Four sets of eyes were on the blonde as she approached the girl. Two challenging, one confused and a bit annoyed, one horrified. She may have been human, but she wasn't stupid. She knew Emma was supposedly one of the 'bad' ones, and it showed. She brushed Grace's hair aside, and the girl jumped.

"I won't hurt you sweetie, okay?" Emma couldn't believe this was who they were offering Emma. The girl couldn't have been older than fifteen, and yet _Emma_ was apparently the monster. She didn't want to do this, she _really_ didn't want to feed from this girl who was barely a teenager, but she sensed it was a sort of test that she was intended to pass.

"Okay," Grace replied meekly.

Emma looked up and everyone was still staring at her. "Are you all going to watch me or...?" Regina turned around quickly, almost like she'd been caught doing something she wasn't supposed to be. The guard turned around next, while Cora just raised a challenging eyebrow. "Okay..."

The vampire angled her body away from Cora and her judgmental gaze as best she could before allowing her fangs to extend and biting into the girl's neck. Grace gasped, and then sighed contentedly, her eyes glazing over. The warm blood sprang into Emma's mouth, and she found herself hungrier than she'd thought. She hadn't drank from a human since that night with Lilith, and she didn't realize how much she'd missed it.

The girl started swaying in her arms, and the inner voice telling her to _stop_ sounded a lot like Regina's. She pulled away from Grace's neck, delicately running her finger along the corner of her mouth to stop anything from dripping.

Cora hummed. "I'm surprised, I thought you would've killed her."

"What?!" That comment snapped Grace out of her bite-induced haze, "You said I'd be fine!"

"Hush child, you are fine. Now go get some rest." The girl walked off with the guard escorting her, leaving Emma alone with the two Mills women. "Regina dear, come with me, I need your help figuring something out. One of our researchers appear to have had a breakthrough."

Emma perked up at that. "Do you need me to do something?"

Cora fixed Emma with a withering gaze. "Not at the moment. You can keep yourself busy hanging upside-down like a bat or doing whatever it is vampires do. I'll send for you when we need you. Come along Regina."

Regina waved to Emma before being led out of the room and down the hall. "How can you stand the stench in there?" Emma heard Cora ask, before the door shut behind them.

Emma took a whiff of her clothes and didn't smell anything out of the ordinary; these people were going to give her a complex if she had to stay here much longer.

::::

When Regina came back to her room many hours later, the sun had long set, and she looked like she'd just been told the worst news of her life.

"Come with me." She said instead of her typical 'hello.'

"Everything okay?"

The brunette looked at her, but didn't answer. "Please, just come. We found how the Eupetics cured vampirism."

"That's great! Right?"

Regina lowered her gaze before turning around, not waiting to see if Emma was following her. The blonde was on edge as they made their way through the building, their steps echoing off the stone floor.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"I think it would be best if the researchers guide you through the process." Regina answered robotically without turning around.

It was pretty clear that Regina had no interest in talking for whatever reason, so she followed her through the building until they arrived at a room that looked a lot like an interrogation room. People were standing around the room, and there was an old-looking book opened on the metal table in the center of the room. When Emma entered, the room went quiet. Some people looked away, some made the sign of the cross, and some outright snarled at her.

"Miss Swan," Rosalyn looked at her.

"Ms Faye." Emma nodded her head. "Is anyone going to tell me what's going on?"

"My name is Kathryn," one of the researchers said without looking up. "I appear to have found a first-hand account of the Eupetic who successfully turned a vampire human again."

"Okay, so how did it work?"

Kathryn straightened her back and finally looked at Emma. "The Eupetic has to stake the vampire, and they'll be turned back to their original form."

Emma's jaw dropped. "So... I have to stake myself?"

The woman nodded. "A Eupetic has never been turned, so you're the first instance we have of something like this happening... that is, if you _are_ a Eupetic."

Emma's mind was reeling. "The only way to test this out is for me to _stab myself_ and hope I don't die?"

"Basically."

Emma looked at Regina, and she looked absolutely torn apart, although she was trying her best not to show it. "Okay."

She had to try, that's what she came here for... and it's not like the room full of hunters would just let her go on promise of good behavior.

Regina reached into her boot and pulled out a freshly carved wooden stake and handed it to the blonde. Emma took it from her, her fingers lingering on the brunette's hand a second longer than necessary. _See you soon_ that touch said, but it also said _goodbye_.

Kathryn cleared her throat. "The account wasn't clear on what happens after the vampire is staked, so for everyone's safety, we need to vacate the room. We'll be watching from the other side of that glass." The blonde woman seemed to struggle with what she was about to do, before she lightly pat Emma on the shoulder. "Good luck Miss Swan. One way or another, may your soul find peace."

Emma nodded, and all the hunters and researchers left the room. She sat on the single chair that was left in the room, facing the room of observers on the other side of the window. The vampire looked at the stake in her hands; it would either be the thing that killed her or brought her back to life. Not wasting any more time, she took the piece of wood firmly in her hands and extended her arms, the sharp end pointed at her chest.

A wave of uncertainty washed over her. If Regina was right and she could do this, she'd be cured. She'd be human again. But if she was wrong, and all her faith was misplaced, then she'd just willingly commit suicide in front of a live audience.

"I hope you're right," Emma said, locking eyes with Regina before plunging the wooden stake straight into her heart.

* * *

 **A/N** : Wow, next week is the last chapter; these last five weeks have flown by! Thank you to everyone who's following this story as it's posted (and hi to everyone who waited for it to be completed lol), I'll see you next week for the final chapter!


	6. Bring Us Back Into The Light

**Full Title:** Thoughts of Endless Night Bring Us Back Into The Light

 **A/N** : This is it, the final chapter, the last page as it were. Thanks so much to everyone who's been following this story from the beginning, enthusiastically commenting every step of the way. I'm not going to babble too much because I know why you're here, so without further ado, enjoy!

Title comes from the song 'Vampires Will Never Hurt You' by My Chemical Romance

* * *

At first, nothing happened. Emma, up until this point had never been stabbed, so she hadn't been expecting the excruciating pain that spread from her chest, reaching across every inch of her body. She felt her grip loosen around the stake, felt the life slowly leaving her. This was it, this was the end. Breathing became difficult, and remaining upright was becoming too much of an effort to bear. Her head lolled back against the back of the chair, and her eyes fluttered closed. As her breathing slowed, she heard a pained _No!_ from behind the glass.

Her eyes opened just in time to see a burst of white light, brighter than a supernova surge from her chest, blinding both her, and everyone in the other room. When the light disappeared, the stake had turned to ashes and the hole in her chest was gone. Emma gasped, as if she was taking her first breath in centuries. Her heart stuttered to a start, then began beating rapidly, as if making up for lost time.

"Did it work?" Regina asked, still shielding her eyes from behind the window.

Emma broke into a laugh, half hysterical with happiness. "I think so."

Regina opened her eyes, and the smile that split across her face was breathtaking. "Emma, you did it!" Regina ran through the door, holding up a mirror to Emma.

Her eyes were back to their usual sea-foam green, and when she smiled, there was no hint of the fangs that were there even moments before.

"I couldn't have done it without you."

Seemingly forgetting who was watching her, Regina took Emma's face in her hands and crushed her lips against Emma's, exploring her mouth for the first time without danger. Emma kissed her back hungrily, her head spinning with happiness. She worried that kissing Regina as a human wouldn't feel the same, and she was right; it was so much better. An uncomfortable clearing of a throat pulled them out of their moment, and Emma was acutely aware of the fact that there were _several_ people watching them.

"Sorry," Emma said sheepishly, feeling heat rise to her cheeks.

"Well color me shocked," Rosalyn entered the room, rounding Emma. She put two fingers against the blonde's neck, before smiling triumphantly. "She's really human. It actually worked!"

"I knew it would," Regina confirmed, wrapping a hand around Emma's waist.

"So now what?" Emma asked the room of hunters.

"You're welcome to stay here as long as you'd like Emma," Cora answered, using the blonde's first name for the first time. "You'd be a valuable asset to Hunters and Keepers alike, if you'd like to work with us."

"Yeah uh... I'd like that. But, I also think I'd like to go home, if that's alright."

"Of course. Regina, would you drive the Savior home?"

"The what?"

"Yes Mother." Regina's arm was still around Emma's waist, and they walked out of the room, through the facility, and out into daylight. For the first time in what felt like forever, the sun didn't burn her skin, not even a little bit.

"How do you feel?" Regina asked once they were outside.

"Alive. So fucking alive."

They drove in comfortable silence back to Emma's place, and the blonde gave Regina a kiss on the cheek before jumping out of the Mercedes. "I'll see you tonight?"

Regina bit her lip. "Yeah."

Emma watched as Regina drove away before making her way into her apartment. For the first time since the whole Eupetic thing came up, she actually had the chance to process it. For one thing, she knew who her mother was now. Her mother had a name and a face and a story, something that Emma had given up on knowing long ago. Another thing, she had a lot riding on her now, and a lot more people depending on her.

She picked up her cell phone and called Ever After, asking Zelena to speak with Robin. When the man picked up on the other end, Emma had the unfortunate task of quitting her job over the phone. She loved tattooing, she really did, but if she was going to run off with the hunters and try to make sense of _magic_ , well... that didn't really leave much room for a day job.

After she promised she'd be in to collect her things and apologizing for the umpteenth time for the inconvenience, Emma hung up the phone and let out a sigh. If this whole 'Daylight Daughter' thing didn't work out, she'd have a hell of a time getting a reference.

Emma spent the evening mulling about her kitchen, trying to keep all the new information that was swirling around in her head from overwhelming her. By the time midnight came, she was actually tired. Regina hadn't been by, and Emma took it to mean that she'd gotten tied up doing one thing or another, and she'd see her tomorrow. Just as she climbed into bed and started drifting off to sleep, something literally came crashing through her window.

Bleary eyed and disoriented, Emma was shocked to see the Queens of Darkness standing in her bedroom, their fangs glinting in the moonlight.

"It's been three days Emma," Maleficent tilted her head. "And yet, the hunter still breathes."

"I'm not a vampire anymore." Emma said with a triumphant grin. "See, no red eyes."

Ursula stalked across the room and took Emma's face between her thumb and forefinger, turning her head roughly in all directions. "So it seems. The only time I heard of a vampire being cured was with the help of a Eupetic, but there hasn't been one in twenty-eight years. Unless..." Ursula was piecing things together in her mind, and Emma held her breath, hoping she didn't put it all together. "Who is it?"

"I don't know," Emma lied immediately. "I was knocked out the entire time, and when I woke up, I was human again."

"Huh," Maleficent spoke up from behind Ursula. "That puts us in a precarious situation... you know too much."

Emma's eyes widened. "What, no, I don't know anything! Listen, I've never wanted any trouble with you lot. I'll forget everything." Instinctively, she pulled the blankets closer to her chin like a child, as if that could save her from the vampire's wrath.

Maleficent listened to her plead with a look of indifference before saying "Cruella, kill her."

"Gladly darling." The older woman prowled forward, before Regina jumped through the window, catching Ursula off-guard with a stake through the back.

Cruella stopped at the commotion, turning her blood-red eyes on Regina. "Look what the cat dragged in," Cruella rounded on the hunter that had thrown herself quite literally into a den of wolves.

Regina moved to stake the vampire, when Maleficent crept up behind her, disarming the hunter. She held Regina by the neck, her free hand holding a fistful of the hunter's hair. "Move, and I'll snap your neck quicker than you can blink," Maleficent growled.

"Go ahead, kill me," Regina spat back.

"Oh no, death would be too kind for you. How about I turn you into one of us, while your girlfriend watches. Then I'll kill her while _you_ watch and force you to drink her blood." Maleficent reared her head back, about to bite, when Emma jumped out of bed.

"No!" She reached her hand forward, to do what she didn't know, but what she _didn't_ expect was light as bright as the sun to shoot out from her palm and cover her entire bedroom. Maleficent and Cruella turning to dust was the last thing she registered before her vision went black and she passed out.

::::

Regina stood in Emma's bedroom in shock. After she blinked the spots from her eyes, she saw piles of ashes where the Queens of Darkness once stood. Emma was passed out, her arm extended as if she was reaching for something.

"We won," she whispered into the empty room.

"Not quite." A man in a suit made his way gracefully through the window, landing with a quiet thud on Emma's carpeted floor.

"Daniel." It had been years since Regina had last seen her first love, and time didn't make it any easier. She should be repulsed by what he'd become, and in a way, she was. He was always older than her, but now he looked a few years younger, vampirism slowing his aging down until it stopped completely.

"Regina Mills, how I've missed seeing your pretty face."

"I can't say the same," Regina answered, her voice faltering. She pulled out the gun loaded with wooden bullets that she kept in a holster around her thigh.

"You couldn't kill me before, what makes you so sure you can do it now?"

Her hands were shaking. "I don't want to kill you; I want to save you. We found a way to make vampires human again. We can _save_ you if you give us the chance. You could be alive again."

"I've never been more alive. Hunters and Keepers have so many rules; when you're a vampire, no one can tell you what to do. Join me, join _us_ and you'll be able to live forever. Regina," he took a step forward, his chest right against the barrel of the gun, as if daring her to pull the trigger. Daniel lifted his hand to stroke Regina's face. "I've never stopped loving you."

Regina's breath caught in her throat, her grip on the gun pointed at Daniel's heart not loosening. "That's not possible, you can't love anyone or anything but power and blood."

"Do you really think that's true?" Regina looked in his eyes, and for a moment, they weren't the alarming red that they've been for nearly fifteen years; they were the beautiful ocean blue that enchanted her the first time they met. His face was soft and warm; it was the face of the man she was going to marry one day.

Regina's arms were shaking now, and tears were threatening to fall. Daniel hit her with the lopsided smile that always made her heart skip a beat. "I do." She closed her eyes, and before she could change her mind, pulled the trigger.

The shot rang out in Emma's bedroom, and Regina opened her eyes. The life drained from Daniel's eyes as he fell to the ground, clutching at the hole in his chest where a wooden bullet lie. He lay on the ground, his skin starting to turn grey. "Thank you," he choked out, and this time, his eyes really were blue again, right before he closed his eyes for the last time.

When his chest stilled, Regina slid down the wall and let the tears fall. She knew, deep down, she did the right thing; the Daniel she knew would have never wanted to become what he did. She'd never be sure if she imagined the 'thank you' that fell from his lips before he died, but it was all she had. Sobs wracked her body; for the first time she truly felt like she could mourn Daniel, all he was, and all he would never be.

"Hey," a groggy voice snapped her out of her sadness. "What's the matter?" Regina glanced at Daniel's dead body on the ground. "Oh. Regina, I'm so sorry."

Regina let out a shaky breath. "He's better now, I know that." She looked up at Emma through her lashes, and saw nothing but genuine concern from the blonde.

"Hey, come here." Regina got up off the ground and lay down in the free space on Emma's bed. Emma wrapped her arms around the brunette, and didn't say anything else.

Regina relaxed into the embrace, Emma's strong heart beat against her back lulling her to sleep.

::::

Emma woke up to the sun shining into her bedroom, and a beautiful woman still asleep in her arms. She moved to get her arm from out under the brunette, but that slight movement woke her up.

"Hey, go back to sleep."

Regina groaned, stretching. "No it's fine, I'm up."

"Do you want breakfast?" Emma asked, getting off the bed.

"Yeah that'd be great, what do you have?"

Emma thought about this for a moment before laughing. "I don't have any food fit for human consumption. Want to go to the diner around the corner? It's on me."

"Yeah, sure." Regina got out of bed and reached skyward, still wearing the clothes she was wearing the night before. Emma smiled to herself, she could get used to waking up next to Regina.

"What are you smiling about?"

"Your bedhead," Emma countered.

"You're so rude," Regina rolled her eyes before heading to the bathroom to fix her appearance as best she could.

"There's a spare toothbrush still in the package if you want to use that!" Emma yelled to Regina through the closed door.

"Thanks!"

Emma heard cupboard doors opening and closing as Regina probably looked for a hairbrush because yes, her bedhead really _was_ a sight to behold. She took the opportunity to change out of her pajamas and into jeans and a tanktop before Regina exited the bathroom somehow looking fresh as a daisy.

"I hate to be the one to bring this up," Emma said, uncomfortable, "But what exactly do you want to do about the corpse of your ex-lover that's currently on my bedroom floor?"

Regina looked down on the ground, at the piles of ashes and the one still very intact body. "Could you give me a minute?"

"Of course." Emma stepped out of the room, giving Regina the time she needed to properly say goodbye. When she walked out a couple of minutes later, she looked like she'd been crying, but Emma didn't mention it.

"Your room just needs a good sweep," she said nonchalantly. "Ready?"

The pair exited the building into the midmorning sun and made their way to Granny's Diner around the corner. When they slid into a booth, Emma was surprised to see Ruby, the girl she gave the wolf tattoo to, saunter up with a pitcher of water.

"I didn't know you worked here," Emma said, taking the two offered glasses and pouring water.

"Then you've never been in here," the redhead chuckled. "I practically live here. I took over full-time after my Granny passed, but I've been working here since I was fourteen." Ruby looked over at Regina, giving her a not-so-subtle once-over. "What can I get you two ladies?"

"Could we have a moment with the menu?"

"Sure thing, holler when you need me!" Ruby walked away, adding a completely unnecessary sway to her hips.

"She's totally into you," Emma peered at Regina over the menu.

" _She's_ not my type," Regina responded without skipping a beat, "I'm more into blondes."

"Oh yeah?"

"Mhmm," Regina replied with a playful arch of her eyebrow.

"I quit my job," Emma blurted out.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I figured if uh... I was going to be working with the hunters and doing all this magic stuff that holding down a day job wouldn't really work. I have enough saved up to keep me afloat for like... a year or so." The blonde shrugged. "That is... if the offer still stands?"

Regina nodded. "We kind of need you… and I wouldn't mind having you around either."

"You charmer."

After looking at the menu for a few more minutes, Emma waved the waitress over and told her their orders. The rest of their meal was uneventful; Emma played with the idea of bringing up the whole Daniel situation, but she figured if Regina wanted to talk about it, she would.

"So… am I going to be trained to fight?"

Regina's head snapped up. "Absolutely not. Most likely, you'll be assigned a Keeper."

"What, no! I need to learn how to defend myself! I mean… if we're doing our job right we're not going to need to fight anyways, but I'd feel better knowing that I can."

Regina glared at Emma. "I'm not going to have this argument with you here."

Emma glared right back. "We're not arguing. I'm telling you what's going to happen, and you're listening to me, that's all."

"We'll talk about this later."

Regina waved to the waitress to get the bill, and just like Emma promised, she covered both of their breakfasts.

Walking back to Emma's apartment, a thought crossed her mind. "So... with the Queens of Darkness gone, does that mean River City is vampire free?"

Regina nearly doubled over with laughter. "They're like weeds. Kill one, three more pop up. This place is a hub for supernatural activity for whatever reason, so _no_ , River City is most definitely not vampire free."

"Oh. So I should _definitely_ fix my window as soon as possible."

"You should move, that's what you should do. It's not going to take long for word to spread as to who, and more specifically _what_ you are."

"Where should I go?"

"There's room at headquarters, if you're interested."

"I don't know how well that'll work; I still can't see it, remember?"

"Right."

When they got back to Emma's apartment, she got to sweeping up the dust and broken glass from her bedroom floor while Regina did God-knows-what in the living room. Emma came out of her room to put the broom away just as Regina was finishing up some phone call.

"The High Council wants to see you. i'll just run and get my car, then we can go? Oh, and pack a bag for a couple days at least, you really can't come back here."

"Sure, okay."

Regina left, leaving Emma with fifteen minutes tops to pack up everything that was important to her, and say goodbye to her old life.

Emma made her way to the sink, pouring the remaining blood bottles down the drain. A brief thought flitted through her head that she should call the biohazard department, but quickly quashed it when she realized that would raise too many questions that she had no idea how to answer, and besides, she didn't have the time to wait around for them.

She rummaged around the apartment, throwing every piece of clothing she could find into a duffle bag before she heard the honk of the Mercedes below her window.

With one last backwards glance, she left her life behind, looking to the future. They drove out to the headquarters, and once again, Regina had to lead her in because, surprise surprise, she couldn't see it.

Cora Mills was at the door ready to greet the pair, her demeanor a lot more pleasant than their previous interactions. She led them to a sitting room with a roaring fire, overstuffed couches, and all the snacks Emma could ever dream of. She took a handful of popcorn as she sat down. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes. We've scoured our resources, and there's still hardly anything we know about Daylight Daughters, which makes you working with us a learning opportunity for everyone."

"Alright..."

"But, what we do know is that the Daylight Daughters originated in Egypt, appropriately, one of the sunniest places on this planet. There's rumored to be an entire library under one of the pyramids, but only a Eupetic can gain access it. We need you to go there and find the library. We need you to leave tonight. Of course, we will take care of your apartment while you're gone, should you choose to return to it at a later date."

"Oh, Egypt, wow. Um... yeah, okay. Are there any vampires there?"

Cora shrugged. "We're really not sure. It's not an ideal place for a vampire, but it's still possible. There are more than just vampires in the world that you need to be worried about Miss Swan."

"Is that safe?" Regina spoke up from beside Emma. "Once people hear that Emma is the last Eupetic there's going to be a manhunt! She doesn't have any sort of mastery over her magic; can we really just send her out on her own? "

"Of course not," Cora turned to her daughter. "That's where you come in. I know that you're a Hunter by choice and you prefer to be out in the field but, I thought I'd extend the offer to you. If you decline, we can find another Keeper who–"

"I'll do it."

"Shocking." Cora smirked. "I'll make the arrangements, you'll be on a plane tonight. Feel free to roam the premises, and Miss Swan?" Emma looked at the woman. "You'll find that doors are locked for a reason, don't test them."

Cora walked out of the sitting room, leaving Emma and Regina alone to digest what was happening.

"I hope you don't get tired of me," Emma chuckled.

"I hope I don't get tired of you either," Regina said with a smirk.

"Wow, and you call me rude."

Regina laughed. "Oh, did you bring your tattooing stuff?"

"No... why?"

"No bother, there's a small parlor in the building. Can you add to my tattoos?"

"Oh, for Daniel?"

"No, I don't want to remember that." She met the blonde's gaze. "I meant you."

"Oh, okay."

Regina led them out of the room and down several corridors until they arrived at a room not much larger than a closet, equipped with fresh tattoo needles, a singular bench, and bottles of black ink.

"So… does this constitute another tally?" Emma asked as she readied the equipment.

Regina shook her head. "There isn't really a precedent for what happened, but a tally wouldn't feel right. Make it a sun, right at the top."

::::

If you had told Emma Swan that tattooing tally marks down a pretty girl's back would lead her to being turned into a vampire, committing murder, only to find out that she was the last of a race of magic users, she would've called you insane. But, if you told her all of that would lead to the most life changing adventure of her life with the girl of her dreams; she would've chosen to go through it a hundred times over, because sometimes you have to walk through darkness in order to find the light.

 **THE END**

* * *

Well, that's it, I hope y'all liked it! I can't believe I finally finished a multichapter, it's something I honestly thought I'd never do. I want to thank all my friends who supported me along the way and listened to me screaming at 3am about well… just about everything really, this wouldn't have happened without you.


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